Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero backs N’Golo Kante over coronavirus fears
Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero has backed N’Golo Kante’s decision to stay away from training over coronavirus fears.
The World Cup winning Frenchman was given permission to skip the club’s return to work last week and has even been allowed to miss the rest of the season by Frank Lampard.
Kante has suffered with health problems in the past, collapsing in the club’s Cobham dressing room two years ago and he lost his brother to a heart attack just weeks before France’s triumph in Russia in 2018.
N’Golo Kante (second left) attended training on Tuesday last week but is now staying at home
Chelsea are reportedly prepared to let the midfielder miss the rest of the 2019-2020 season
And Argentine shot-stopper Caballero believes his team-mate is fully within his rights to keep his distance due to fears surrounding the virus.
‘It’s very understandable’, the 38-year-old told TNT Sports in an Instagram Live interview.
‘He tested negative for Covid-19 but he had a bad time of it during quarantine with symptoms of the virus that gave him that fear.
‘We respect him and we’ll wait until he feels comfortable because the truth is that to do what we’re doing you have to feel okay and feel confidence and after we start again, we have to all go forward together.
Veteran goalkeeper Willy Caballero has backed Kante over his stance amid the pandemic
Kante with the World Cup trophy after France’s victory over Croatia in Moscow in 2018
‘N’Golo is a very humble and hard-working person who is always smiling and and he must have his reasons to lift up his hand and say what he’s said.’
Kante tested negative for coronavirus last week but he has safety concerns during the ongoing pandemic and with the full support of manager Lampard will continue to train at home as preparations gather pace for the return of the Premier League.
Caballero continued: ‘We did a lot of Zoom meetings with Frank Lampard and the other players and he said he didn’t feel safe going back to training because of the way he had felt over the last few weeks.
‘We know he’s someone who loves training and running and is incapable of lying about something like this.
‘We support him and we respect him.’
Kante has been hampered by injuries during manager Frank Lampard’s first season in charge
