Arriving at Chelsea in 2009 aged 12, Jérémie Boga spent nine years at the Stamford Bridge club before joining Sassuolo in 2018.
The versatile forward never managed to fully break through at the Premier League club and was instead sent on many loans to the likes of Stade Rennais, Granada and Birmingham City to get some minutes under his belt.
While he performed adequately wherever he went, it wasn’t until his move to Sassuolo that he found stability and really burst onto the scene, making him one of the more sought after players in Serie A today.
Scoring eight goals and assisting another four in 24 league appearances, the 23-year-old has caught the eye of many clubs, and there was even talk he could return to Chelsea if they activated a buy-back clause.
Boga, however, was unaware of any of this until recently.
In an interview with RMC Sport, he was asked whether he was disappointed to never make it at Chelsea.
He replied: “Disappointed, not really. Maybe it just wasn’t my time. Regarding my buy-back clause, personally, I didn’t have any contact, no one told me anything. I just saw it, like everyone else, on social media. I don’t think about it too much, I’m just focused on Sassuolo.
“Contacts with Chelsea? No, I just saw on the internet that Sassuolo had bought the clause out, but whether it be Sassuolo or Chelsea, no one talked to me about it”.
It doesn’t look like Boga is too bothered about returning to Chelsea, even if he doesn’t regret leaving ASPTT Marseille at such a young age to make the leap to England.
He said: “It’s a choice I’ve always assumed. We had various options in France. Before leaving, we had a choice. When I did the trial at Chelsea, I liked the project and I don’t regret it at all because my formative years went very well as you have everything you need to work and develop.
“I think it’s one of the best youth setups in England, and even in the world, because we won many titles, like the Youth League. I completely assume my choice of leaving [France] so early”.
As for his future, it seems Boga has his mind set on staying put for at least another year before looking elsewhere.
He explained: “I see my future at Sassuolo because I’ve had a chat with the manager. We’ll see what will happen. For now, I’m at Sassuolo”.
Boga didn’t deny it was ‘flattering’ to see his name linked to so many big clubs, like Inter or Napoli, but first, he wants to ‘reach his goals’ before ‘seeing what happens next year’.
