Even while current Chelsea players haven’t had the best of starts at Euro 2024, one player who recently left on a free transfer has already had one of the best performances of the competition thus far.

France began their campaign with a close 1-0 victory, and N’golo Kante was named player of the match for his efforts in the centre of midfield.

While players like Romelu Lukaku and Mykhailo Mudryk had difficult starts to the season, Kante stood out from the crowd and impressed many.

It takes some accomplishment in and of itself to keep two Real Madrid midfield players off the team immediately following their Champions League victory, but that is precisely what happened last night.

Even though he left Chelsea for free when his contract expired, he appeared to be back to his peak yesterday on the grandest platform.

Ian Wright, a pundit for the game, was one individual who was obviously impressed by what he’d witnessed.

Despite having spent a season playing in Saudi Arabia, he told ITV Sport he was surprised he could play at that level.