Chelsea have offered to double N’Golo Kante’s money and make him their highest-paid player in a bid to keep him out of the grasp of Paris Saint-Germain, Dailymail UK reports..

 

The central midfielder’s stock has risen since he moved to Stamford Bridge, where he won the Premier League in his first season.

 

He was also an integral part of Didier Deschamps’ World Cup-winning squad in Russia this summer and a new report has claimed that he has been rewarded with a new deal worth £15million a season, £290,000 a week deal over five years.

 

The move comes amid reported interest in the midfielder from French giants, PSG, who last summer showed their financial muscle by wrestling Neymar away from Barcelona for £198million.

 

If Kante puts pen to paper on the contract, he would go above Eden Hazard and become the Blues best-paid star.

 

Hazard, who is currently Chelsea’s highest earner on £220,000 a week, has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid.

 

But if the Belgium star stays, he is likely to be rewarded with an improved deal worth in the region of £300,000 a week.

 

Kante, meanwhile, has not yet pushed to leave Stamford Bridge, with new manager Maurizio Sarri planning on using him on the right of recent addition Jorginho in a three-man midfield.

 

The 27-year-old, who joined for around £30m in 2016 and is contracted until 2021 under the terms of his current deal, played in every one of France’s World Cup games.

 

Deschamps labelled him the ‘essential element’ of his team, while midfield partner Paul Pogba joked that Kante ‘must have 15 lungs’.