Kante is expected to take over for Busquets at Barcelona.

N’Golo Kante, a midfielder for Chelsea and France, has emerged as the top candidate to succeed Sergio Busquets at Barcelona.

Busquets has been a devoted club servant for Barca, earning 30 major awards since getting into the first squad in 2008. However, his contract at Camp Nou will expire this summer when he turns 35.

The fact that Kante is also under contract with Chelsea appeals to the cash-strapped team, which is why Andres Christensen and Marcos Alonso were both signed from the Blues during the most recent summer transfer window on free agents.

Mateu Alemany, the Barcelona sports director, recently said that “increasingly we have to concentrate on the free transfer market,” according to Albert Roger and Toni Juanmarti of the Barcelona experts, Relevo.

See: Kante replacement alternatives from Chelsea, five

“N’Golo Kante, a midfielder for Chelsea, is among the top players on that list. The Frenchman, who is now injured, is well known to the Barca squad since he satisfies the technical requirements set out by the organization and may join for free in June.”

In addition, Kante has a somewhat different profile than Busquets, a ball-carrier whose approach is more in line with a contemporary No. 6 than the Spaniard’s.

Kann afford it

The Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has also been linked to Barcelona, and the Portuguese player recently said in public that joining Barca would be a “dream for every player,” but the 25-year-old is probably going to cost roughly €25 million.