Jérémie Boga

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Jérémie Boga
Entrainement SRFC Dinan 20150902 - Jérémie Boga (cropped).JPG
Boga with Stade Rennais in 2015
Personal information
Full name Jérémie Boga[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-03) 3 January 1997 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sassuolo
Number 7
Youth career
2003–2009 ASPTT Marseille
2009–2015 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Chelsea 1 (0)
2015–2016 → Rennes (loan) 27 (2)
2016–2017 → Granada (loan) 26 (2)
2017–2018 → Birmingham City (loan) 31 (2)
2018– Sassuolo 86 (18)
National team‡
2012 France U16 2 (1)
2014–2016 France U19 10 (1)
2017– Ivory Coast 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:36, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 June 2021

Jérémie Boga (born 3 January 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Sassuolo and the Ivory Coast national team.

Coming through Chelsea's youth system, Boga spent the 2015–16 season on loan to Rennes and the 2016–17 season with Granada, also on loan, before making his first-team debut for Chelsea in August 2017. He then joined EFL Championship club Birmingham City on loan for the remainder of the season. In 2018, he moved to Italian club Sassuolo on a permanent deal.

Internationally, Boga represented his native France up to under-19 level, then chose to play for his parents' country, Ivory Coast, at senior level. He is also eligible to represent England.

Club career[]

Chelsea[]

Boga playing for Chelsea in 2017

In 2008, Boga joined Chelsea from ASPTT Marseille as a youngster when he moved with his family to London, where his father worked. He was educated at Richard Challoner School in New Malden.[3] After impressing in Chelsea's Academy, he earned himself his first professional contract, therefore keeping at the London-based club until 2017.[4]

He was named on the bench for Chelsea's final game of the 2014–15 season, a 3–1 victory against Sunderland in the Premier League, but he remained unused.[5]

Loan to Stade Rennais[]

On 31 August 2015, Boga joined Rennes on a season-long loan to gain first team experience since his impressive spell in the Chelsea youth system.[6] He made his debut on 18 September, as an 82nd-minute substitute for Paul-Georges Ntep in a 1–1 draw with Lille in Ligue 1.[7] At the beginning of October, Boga made a single appearance for Rennes' reserve team against GSI Pontivy, in which he scored the only goal of the game, converting a penalty in the first-half.[8] On 28 November 2015, in his first start for the team, Boga scored his first professional goal, against Stade de Reims which resulted in a 2–2 draw.[9] His second goal of the season took the Round of 64 Coupe de France match against OGC Nice into extra time. The game went to penalties, and Rennes won the shootout 7–6.[10] On 9 January 2016, Boga scored his third goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with Lorient.[11]

Loan to Granada[]

On 6 July 2016, Boga joined La Liga club Granada on a season-long loan.[12] He made his Granada debut on 20 August in a 1–1 draw with Villarreal, playing the full 90 minutes.[13] A week later, Boga scored his first goal in a 5–1 home defeat against Las Palmas, scoring Granada's equalizer after Las Palmas took the lead through former Liverpool player Nabil El Zhar.[14] On 2 April 2017, Boga scored the equalizing goal against Barcelona. Granada lost the game 4–1.[15]

Chelsea debut and loan to Birmingham City[]

Boga returned to Chelsea for the 2017–18 season and unexpectedly started in their first game of the season against Burnley. However, he was substituted in the 18th minute after Gary Cahill was sent off.[16] He signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea before, on 28 August 2017, joining Championship club Birmingham City on loan for the 2017–18 season.[17]

He was one of six debutants in Birmingham's next fixture, away to Norwich City. He played the whole match as his team lost 1–0,[18] and continued in the side for the next five league matches. Incoming manager Steve Cotterill imposed a fitness programme on the players, and on Boga in particular, who did not start another match for two months.[19] When he did return, in a 1–1 draw away to Sheffield United on 25 November, he opened the scoring with his first goal for Birmingham. After the defence failed to clear a corner, "an unmarked Boga jinked on the edge of the area before thumping a curling effort past Blackman's outstretched hands";[20] the goal won him the club's Goal of the Season award.[21] Two weeks later, with his side losing 1–0 away to Fulham with 15 minutes left, he missed a penalty, hitting his shot too high.[22] Cotterill continued to select Boga, and he scored his second Birmingham goal with a powerful header in a 3–1 win against Sunderland in late January that lifted his team out of the relegation positions.[23] He played less under Cotterill's successor, Garry Monk, and not at all in the last few weeks of the season, as Birmingham narrowly avoided relegation.[24] In all competitions, he made 34 appearances, 25 of which were starts.[25]

Sassuolo[]

On 21 July 2018, he moved to Sassuolo on a permanent transfer for a fee reported to be around £3.5 million.[26]

International career[]

Boga has been capped by France at under-16 and under-19 levels. In April 2017, it was announced that Boga had committed to playing for the Ivory Coast internationally.[27] He was called up to the Ivory Coast national team for the first time for a friendly match against the Netherlands and an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea on 4 and 10 June 2017.[28] He made his debut in the latter, coming on for Jean Michaël Seri in the 77th minute of a 3–2 home defeat.[29]

Boga remains eligible to represent England, due to having been educated in England for over five years before the age of 18 and having only played once for the Ivory Coast before the age of 21.[30][31] New eligibility rules were introduced by FIFA in 2020 which allow players to switch their national allegiance even if they have played up to three games for one national side (including in competitive games) as long as these games were all before the player turned 21, meaning Boga is now able to choose to play for England.[31]

Personal life[]

Boga was born in Marseille, France, to Ivorian parents.[32] On 19 August 2020 he tested positive for COVID-19.[33]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 23 May 2021[25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chelsea 2014–15 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2017–18 1 0 — — — 0 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Rennes (loan) 2015–16 Ligue 1 27 2 2 1 2 0 — — 31 3
Granada (loan) 2016–17 La Liga 26 2 1 0 — — — 27 2
Birmingham City (loan) 2017–18 Championship 31 2 3 0 — — — 34 2
Sassuolo 2018–19 Serie A 25 3 2 0 — — — 27 3
2019–20 34 11 1 0 — — — 35 11
2020–21 27 4 1 0 — — — 28 4
Total 86 18 4 0 — — — 90 18
Career total 171 24 10 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 182 25

International[]

As of match played 12 June 2021[34]
National team Year Apps Goals
Ivory Coast 2017 1 0
2021 2 0
Total 3 0

Honours[]

Chelsea Youth

References[]

  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Jeremie Boga: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Jeremie Boga: Keen to win more Ivory Coast caps". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ "Jeremie Boga - TheChels.info". TheChels.info.
  5. ^ Winton, Richard (24 May 2015). "Chelsea 3–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Boga moves on loan". Chelsea F.C. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Lille hold on for share of spoils at Rennes". ESPN. PA Sport. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Pontivy GSI vs. Rennes II 0–1". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Reims vs. Rennes 2–2". Sky Sports. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Nice 2–2 Rennes Coupe de France – 9th Rnd". Sky Sports. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Rennes vs. Lorient 2–2". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Boga, segundo fichaje" [Boga, second signing] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Granada vs. Villarreal". Soccerway. Perform Group. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Las Palmas vs. Granada". Soccerway. Perform Group. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  15. ^ "Granada vs. Barcelona". Soccerway. Perform Group. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  16. ^ Dawkes, Phil (12 August 2017). "Chelsea 2–3 Burnley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  17. ^ Dale, James (28 August 2017). "Chelsea midfielder Jeremie Boga joins Birmingham on loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Norwich City 1–0 Birmingham City". BBC Sport. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
    Dick, Brian (9 September 2017). "Birmingham City player ratings: How we rated the new look Blues against Norwich City". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  19. ^ Dick, Brian (28 November 2017). "Jeremie Boga reveals what he did to earn a place in Birmingham City's starting XI". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  20. ^ Long, Dan (25 November 2017). "Sheffield United 1-1 Birmingham: Leon Clarke nets 13th of the season to earn Blades a point". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  21. ^ Birmingham City F.C. [@BCFC] (7 May 2018). "Moving now to one of the most prestigious awards of the night, the Goal of the Season Award sponsored by @BhamIntCoaches. There was no contest for this one… with a clean sweep of the votes the award goes to @BogaJeremie for this