LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has talked up N'Golo Kante's importance to Chelsea's success this season and admitted he lost out to the Blues when trying to sign the midfielder from Leicester City last summer.
Kante, 25, was instrumental in helping Leicester win the Premier League title last season and has had a similar impact on Chelsea this term with his ability to break up play in midfield and shield the back four.
Chelsea are nine points clear at the top the table thanks largely to a 13-game winning run after losing 3-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September.
And Wenger singled out Kante as the reason why Chelsea manager Antonio Conte managed to turn things around so quickly.
"When we beat them 3-0, I didn't expect them to go 13 games unbeaten but I feel they found a better defensive balance," Wenger said. "They are very good in transition.
"I watched their game against Liverpool [on Tuesday] and N'Golo Kante had a huge impact in their team. It's no coincidence that they are in the position that they are and Leicester were in the position they were last season."
Conte switched formations after that loss at the Emirates Stadium to a 3-4-3 system that has helped bring out the best in his players.
Wenger said he thought the loss to Arsenal "was a little bit of a wake-up call for them" but also said the Blues have benefitted from not playing in Europe this season.
"They can prepare properly and if they want to change the system, they can work on it all week," he said. "That gave Conte time to prepare, to know the players better, and that certainly helped. The integration of N'Golo Kante has had a huge impact."
Kante was heavily linked with Arsenal last summer as well, although the Gunners signed Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach instead for a fee similar to the £30 million Chelsea ended up paying for the France international.
And when asked if he had been interested in signing Kante, Wenger said: "Yes. When he was in France [and] when he was at Leicester."
But Wenger would not say whether it was money or another issue that got in the way.
"There again, I cannot explain everything but it is quite obvious when you look where he has gone," Wenger said.