Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante is a Middlesbrough reject, it has been revealed.

The Daily Mail reports Boro passed up the opportunity to sign Kante after a fan brought the "outstanding creative player" to the club's attention in 2013.

Boro fan Dennis Abbott was on holiday in Normandy when he watched Kante play in midfield for SC Caen. He then proceeded to tweet the Teesside club encouraging scouts to monitor the Frenchman.

Abbott tweeted: "@Boro scouts: Tell Tony #Mowbray to check out #Caen midfielder Ngolo #Kante before #Wenger gets him. Top top player."

The Championship club replied: "Passed on to our scouts, thanks Dennis."

The Boro fan was persistent and posted another tweet the following day which read: "That's great. He's an outstanding creative player, winning plaudits from players and media alike."

The club then replied once again to reassure Abbott that scouts were "going to look".

The Frenchman remained with the Ligue 1 club for another two seasons before signing for Leicester City in August 2015 in a £5.6million deal.