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Mohamadou Kante is West Ham's next breakout star, his stats vs Burnley prove how Mohamadou Kante looks set to play a significant role for West Ham United in the Championship this season. The 20-year-old started the season opener against Burnley on Sunday, which ended 2-2 after the Hammers dropped a 2-0 lead. Max Kilman had opened the scoring in the first half and Manor Solomon's 72nd-minute goal looked to have wrapped up the points before Zian Flemming's penalty and stoppage time equaliser. Kante made his breakthrough last season and has began to seriously impress for West Ham, starting alongside Lewis Orford at Turf Moor. New signing Arne Engels, Soungoutou Magassa and the currently injured Tomas Soucek will likely be the first choices for Nuno Espirito Santo going forward, but Kante will certainly get his fair share of minutes this season. The midfielder signed a new contract in October, tying him down at the club until at least 2031. Mohamadou Kante's impressive stats vs Burnley Kante joined West Ham in 2024, signing from Paris FC before returning for a year on loan there. He returned last summer and began to feature for the senior team, making an appearance off the bench against Manchester United in December. Towards the end of the campaign, the 20-year-old made and more appearances, and has become an important part of Nuno's team. Sunday's game was just the second time Kante has played a full 90 minutes for West Ham, and it came in a difficult game. He did not disappoint. It was the midfielder's brilliant run down the by-line which led to Solomon's goal, with his attempted pass deflecting off the goalkeeper and into the path of the winger. But there were several things that Kante did extremely well. The youngster might've scored with the big chance he did well to earn, and was defensively sound, completing a tackle, eight recoveries and winning three duels. What has Kante said? Kante appears to have already caught Nuno's fancy, and will continue to be heavily involved this season. There is serious excitement around the 20-year-old, who could well be a key player at the London Stadium for many years to come. "We all want to be part of the team and fight to get back to the Premier League, and personally I’m going to give my best to play as many minutes as possible," Kante told West Ham's website in July. "We’re all working well, and I’m really happy here. I’ve felt good since I joined and started with the team. We had a tough time last year, but I think we’re well equipped for what’s to come.”