Nemanja Matic is ready to 'fight' N'Golo Kante for a starting spot at Chelsea, and says competition for places is only natural at a team where thousands of footballers dream of playing.
Matic starred for Chelsea in the 2014/15 season after being brought back to the club by Jose Mourinho, helping to guide the Blues to the Premier League title.
But the Serbian midfielder was just one of the Chelsea stars to find the following campaign tough as they finished 10th - their lowest finish since 1996 - with Mourinho sacked in December.
New Chelsea boss Antonio Conte bolstered his options with Leicester's defensive midfield star Kante earlier this month, but Matic - who has been linked with both Manchester United and Juventus this summer - sees the title winner's arrival as just another challenge of life at an elite club.
"I am sure that 100,000 players want to come to play for Chelsea so there is always competition, all life is a fight so every player is ready for that,” Matic said on Chelsea's pre-season tour of the U.S.
"Yes, [it is great to have Kante] - he is a good player and I am sure that he will bring a lot of qualities to our team and all good players are welcome to our team.
"He is a great player and it was difficult play against him [last season] and I am very happy because he is coming to Chelsea."
Leicester captain Wes Morgan was disappointed to see Kante depart for Chelsea, telling ESPN: "I'm sure it's expected; we won the league and the bigger teams are going to try and poach our best players
"You know, as a player, you can't really take much notice to that. We just have to do what we do best. Get on the training field, try and train and keep focus on our job.
"Yeah, there is going to be speculation and it's sad to see N'Golo Kante go, but we've got new players in now and everyone is settled in well and we're just training hard and looking forward to the season."
