One of the many signings made by Chelsea this summer, Lesley Ugochukwu has only eight minutes of Premier League football under his belt to date this season.
He has started and finished the one EFL Cup game the Blues have taken part in, but it’s clear the signing of the 19-year-old was always one for the future.
Despite this, there was never talk of him going to RC Strasbourg on loan, as he explained in an interview with Le Parisien on Monday.
He reveals that Chelsea never asked him to ‘make a choice’, and the idea was always for him to do the pre-season and if Mauricio Pochettino liked what he saw, then he would be part of the squad.
He added: “In my head, it was clear. I wanted to stay at Chelsea. I gave 100% to be a part of this group.”
He said: “It’s the same everywhere. You’re never sure to play in any team. By coming to Chelsea, I knew where I was putting my feet. It’s up to you to prove yourself, to show you deserve a spot. Personally, I’ve never been scared of competition. I’m learning with great players such as Enzo Fernández, Moises Caicedo and Roméo Lavia, who has the same age as me.”
Ugochukwu also spoke about what this transfer meant for his family, as his parents are from Nigeria, and Chelsea is ‘one of the big clubs that everyone supports’, meaning they were ‘really happy’.
As for his relationship with Pochettino, everything is going ‘very well’, and reveals the manager is showing him a ‘lot of trust’ since he arrived from Stade de Rennes, which is where the Argentine first discovered the player as Paris Saint-Germain manager.
There’s also the reasons why he signed for the Blues, and the answer is simple: “It’s Chelsea! You just need to see the trophies they have won and the legends that have come through there. When a club of that size comes to get you, it’s very difficult to refuse.”
