Prior to Saturday’s Championship opener, he obviously hadn’t played a competitive game for Boro and hadn’t tasted the English second tier.
So with Boro leading by just a single goal with 20 minutes to play against Swansea City, you could understand if boss Rob Edwards had been reluctant to turn to the young midfielder. And it would have been equally as easy to understand had Kante been at all overawed by the game and the occasion.
The reality was the absolute opposite.
“Before he came on, I said ‘alright?’,” revealed boss Edwards.
“And he just beamed this big smile at me. I thought ‘yeah, he’s cool, he’s happy.”
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And Edwards was right. Kante adapted and impressed immediately, helping Boro see out an important opening day victory.
Kante joined Aidan Morris in midfield, with Hayden Hackney pushing further forward, and the new recruit pounced on loose balls and was tidy in possession.
And he already appears to have established himself as a cult hero with supporters, who cheered his every touch and tackle.
“He’s alright that kid isn’t he,” said Edwards of the midfielder, who could make his first start in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup first round tie against Doncaster Rovers.
“I like him. I thought he made a really good impact. He’s always smiling.
“What he’s really good at is landing on things.
“We spoke about it at half time, it was wide for them then going down the sides, his big skill was landing on the second ball and winning duels. I thought you saw that.
“We managed to keep them straight and locked in one side, it would go long, say from Burgess, and if we won that first contact we just wanted someone around it and in the right space. He was really good at that.”
Kante has made an instant impact on his new teammates as well.
“He’s hilarious, he’s so funny,” said Dael Fry.
“When he first came in, I said ‘alright mate, my name is Dael’ and he said ‘thank you’. I thought maybe I should have toned the Boro down in me a bit there!
“But he’s been fantastic. I’m sure the lads will warm to him. He’s going to be a good character for us going forward.”
