Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he has been keeping tabs on N'Golo Kante ever since the Leicester City midfielder was nine years old.
Kante has established himself as a key member of the Foxes' remarkable rise to the top of the Premier League table this season, with Claudio Ranieri's side sitting five points clear with 13 games remaining.
Wenger will come up against Kante and his teammates in a top-of-the-table showdown on Sunday, and claims to know all about the 24-year-old.
"Kante is a huge force in their team. Of course I know him. You look at his career and you will be amazed. Because he played in Suresnes in Paris at the age of nine, 10 years old. After he went to Boulogne as an amateur. They didn't want to sign him pro," Wenger told reporters.
"After, he went to Caen, and then he came finally to England. But everywhere he has been, he has always adapted to the level where he was.
"One of my best friends in life knows him since he was 10 years old, and he spoke to me about him. We went to watch him and we saw he had quality. But I didn't know he would come so quickly to England."
Arsenal will be looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time in 2016 when they host the Foxes.
