JEREMIE BOGA has unfinished business in the Premier League with Chelsea — but his first aim is to keep Birmingham in the Championship.
The Blues midfielder is one of 15 players on loan in the Football League from Stamford Bridge.
The loanees from Roman Abramovich’s outfit are as far north as Sunderland — with a couple just down the road at Fulham.
Forget the EFL — maybe it should be renamed the CFL!
Boga, 21, is on a season-long loan and part of a Brum squad battling to beat the drop under new boss Garry Monk.
His season began very differently. He was named in Antonio Conte’s starting XI for Chelsea’s opener against Burnley as they began the defence of their Premier League crown.
And as any of the West London club’s seemingly endless array of young talent would no doubt testify, that is no mean feat.
But what should have been a dream debut for the Ivory Coast attacker, who joined Chelsea as an Under-12, failed to follow the script.
An early red card for Gary Cahill forced Conte into a reshuffle.
Boga was sacrificed just EIGHTEEN minutes into his debut.
To rub salt into the wounds, the Blues slumped to a shock 3-2 defeat.
Boga said: “Since I was a kid, the dream for me has been to play for Chelsea.
“I was unlucky. I only lasted 18 minutes but it was the situation in the game which led to me being substituted.
“I had to take the positives. It was great to be selected for the first team — they have a lot of top-class players. Maybe there will be more opportunities to come in the future.”
A huge vote of confidence came in the shape of a new three-year deal before he was loaned out to Birmingham.
But breaking into the first-team at Stamford Bridge remains a mammoth challenge, one which has proved beyond players as good as the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah.
However, he takes heart from the emergence of stars such as keeper Thibaut Courtois, defender Andreas Christensen and wing-back Victor Moses.
The trio are now first-team regulars — after spells out on loan.
Boga, who has also had temporary spells at Rennes and Granada, added: “There are players at Chelsea who have managed to establish themselves.
“In the long run, the goal is to play at Chelsea.”
Boga has no trouble naming the player he looks up to most at Stamford Bridge when it comes to learning his craft.
He added: “You can only learn from someone like Eden Hazard.
“It is his movement that is particularly special. He always knows where his opponent is.
“But he is good at so many things — dribbling, assists and scoring goals.
“Hazard is someone I would always watch very closely when we were training.”
He admits fellow Ivorian and Stamford Bridge legend Didier Drogba has been another “huge influence” on his career.
ROARING SUCC-SESS How Ryan Sessegnon and his Young Lions pals are showing EFL is the way to play
Striker Drogba had also been at Marseille, Boga’s home-town club where he spent his pre-teen years.
One major frustration has been Ivory Coast’s failure to reach the World Cup this summer.
But for now Boga’s focus is firmly on Birmingham’s scrap for survival.
A crucial 3-0 win over Hull — boss Monk’s first since taking charge — ended a run of SEVEN straight defeats.
Goal difference alone is now all that keeps them out of the drop zone.
Boga insists there has been a lift since Monk’s arrival.
He added: “The new manager has brought us confidence and belief.
“We have been training better, with more intensity.
“And he has given the players more confidence to go out and play, and do what we do best.
“We still need to win games after the international break.
“But it’s great to have gone into it with a win and to be on the same points as Barnsley.
“We have a lot of good players, so I am confident we will stay up. To be where we are now is disappointing.
“We are working hard to change things. We cannot be scared of anyone.”
l Jeremie Boga visited the Clinical Centre for Haematology on behalf of Cure Leukaemia, Birmingham City’s official charity partner.
Leave a comment