Chelsea are close to an agreement with N’Golo Kanté on a new deal and are confident the midfielder will improve their form when he returns from a long-term hamstring injury. Kanté’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season and he has not played since August. The France international had surgery, forcing him to miss the World Cup, and his long history of injury problems had raised the possibility of Chelsea letting him leave. Paris Saint-Germain have been mentioned as a possible destination. However Chelsea, who altered the look of their midfield by selling Jorginho to Arsenal and signing Enzo Fernández from Benfica during January, view Kanté as the ultimate professional and are confident that he will sign an extension soon. The club put the 31-year-old’s injury problems since 2019 to one side when it came to making their decision. The bulletins from the medical department have been optimistic and Chelsea hope Kanté, who returned to first-team training on Tuesday, will be able to hit the ground running once available for selection. That will be a major boost for Graham Potter, who has not been able to select Kanté since replacing Thomas Tuchel as head coach last September. Kanté remains one of the best midfielders in the world and Chelsea are keen to see him build a partnership with Fernández. It has been noted within the hierarchy that Potter, who retains the board’s support before taking his team to Tottenham on Sunday, has had to deal with injuries to several key players. Chelsea’s support for Potter has not been affected by their disappointing home defeat by Southampton last weekend. They want to give him time to build after spending heavily during January and the expectation is that the former Brighton manager will be in charge at the start of next season. Chelsea said their captain, César Azpilicueta, has returned to the training ground after being in hospital with concussion sustained against Southampton. “The club’s medical team are closely monitoring César’s condition, adhering to the important concussion protocols in place to ensure his safety,” Chelsea said.