Arriving at Chelsea after they won the title under Antonio Conte, Tiemoué Bakayoko was one of the bigger names in French football at AS Monaco.
Playing quite a lot under the Italian in his first season at the club, everything changed when Maurizio Sarri came in, as he explained in an interview over the weekend with L’Equipe.
Finally released from his nightmare at Chelsea last summer, as he joined FC Lorient on a free transfer, the France international is hoping to get his career back on track at the age of 29.
He sat down with the newspaper to discuss various aspects of his career, including his years of ‘blues’ at Chelsea.
Bakayoko said: “I was very reluctant to leave Monaco. I thought I’d say in France and join the best, PSG. But I always wanted to gain experience abroad, so when Chelsea, my favourite club after PSG, came calling, it was hard to turn them down. Antonio Conte really wanted me, and followed me when he was at Juventus. We finished fifth in the league and won the Cup. I take a lot of positives from my season.
“Then Maurizio Sarri arrived with Jorginho, and he didn’t speak to me. I knew I had to leave. How can I describe my experience at Chelsea? Sometimes I sit on my sofa, think about my career and say to myself: ‘What was the problem?’”
“ As far as my loans were concerned, there were huge options to buy, every time. At the end of my first year at Milan, where I was able to show the full extent of my football, I was meant to stay, but it was €40m! So I come back to Monaco, for a crappy season because of Covid.”
Signing for Chelsea in 2017 for €40m, he left in 2018 on a loan to AC Milan, before heading to Monaco the year after.
This was then followed by another loan at Napoli, and then a two year spell at AC Milan, again, where Stefano Pioli barely played him.
Returning from this final spell abroad, he was released from his Chelsea contract, allowing him to sign for FC Lorient on loan.
Despite being under deals at Stamford Bridge for six years, the defensive midfielder only ever made 43 appearances for the Premier League side, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
