Kante voted French Player of the Year

PARIS -- Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has been voted as the French Player of the Year for 2017, French media reported on Tuesday.

Winners of other awards will be released in Wednesday's edition of the France Football magazine.

Kante beat Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema in the vote by a panel of former winners and editor-in-chief of the magazine.

After joining from Leicester City in the summer of 2016, Kante was a crucial factor for Chelsea's success in the 2016-17 Premier League, winning the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association) Player of the Year, the FWA (Football Writers' Association) Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season.

Founded by the France Football since 1959, French Player of the Year was only presented annually to French players playing in France at its early stage, before taking into consideration French players playing abroad from 1996.