Jeremie Boga hints he ‘maybe come back’ to Chelsea amid rumours of £14m transfer deal

Sassuolo winger Jeremie Boga has hinted at a potential return to the Premier League with Chelsea.

Boga was previously a member of Chelsea’s academy, having joined in 2009, and helped the club with the Youth Cup in 2014 and 2015, alongside the likes of current first-team stars Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

As was the case with many of Chelsea’s younger players, Boga was sent on loan twice before making his first-team debut, first with Rennes before spending a year at Granada.

Will Boga return to Chelsea? Five things to know…

• Jeremie Boga spent nine years at Chelsea, joining the academy in 2009.
• He was part of the side that won two FA Youth Cups and the Uefa Youth League
• Boga made just one first-team appearance before being sold to Sassuolo in 2018
• The Ivorian is now being linked with a return, as Chelsea hold a buy-back clause.
• And Boga has hinted he would be interested in a second Chelsea chance.

The start of the 2017/18 season saw Boga handed his first Chelsea appearance, in the Blues’ opening Premier League game against Burnley. However, it lasted just 18 minutes as Boga was substituted for Andreas Christensen following Gary Cahill’s early red card in a match Chelsea would eventually lose 3-2.

Boga was sent on a season-long loan to Birmingham City shortly after and, upon his return in the summer of 2018, was sold to Sassuolo.

The Ivorian international has flourished in Serie A and currently leads the way for take-ons in 2019/20, completing 106. Not only that, he has been directly involved in 10 goals in Serie A, scoring eight and recording two assists.

His form has seen Boga linked with a return to England, with some reports claiming Chelsea are looking to bring the Ivorian back to Stamford Bridge, having a buy-back clause believed to be around £14m.

The 2019-20 stat leaders from the Serie A season so far. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/1vmo7D2AdC

— Squawka (@Squawka) March 19, 2020

Under Frank Lampard this season Chelsea have become a younger squad with several academy products being key to the side. With the likes of Willian and Pedro out of contract in the summer, the Blues will be eyeing replacements and Boga has not ruled out a return.

“When I was there, it was Willian, [Eden] Hazard, Pedro,” he told The Athletic.

“When Jose Mourinho was there, it was [Mohamed] Salah.

“There were a lot of good wingers. For me, it has always been if I can’t play, then I will try to go on loan or try to go somewhere to improve, then maybe come back one day.”

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Boga explains take-on dominance

Although Boga certainly is more than just a dribbler, adding goals to his game, the Ivorian remains a tough winger to play against. Boga’s 106 take-ons in Serie A is 30 more than his closest rival Gaetano Castrovilli and, across Europe’s top five leagues, only three players have completed more.

And Boga puts that down to playing football on the streets of Marseille as a youngster.

“It’s everybody against each other and you have to dribble to score,” he added of the universal ‘World Cup’ game.

“So since I was little, it’s always been one-against-one and trying to get open.”