Chelsea turned down the opportunity to sign Kylian Mbappe as a 12-year-old following a trial with the west London club, reports The Athletic.
Daniel Boga, brother of former Chelsea man Jeremie and an old scout for the club, detailed a conversation with Mbappe's mother, Fayza, who said the club would rue their decision to not take a chance on her son. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it's safe to say she was right.
The club's former scout Boga received a tip-off from someone he knew at Nike, who recommended Mbappe. Boga said: "He told me: 'Daniel, I think you should come to Paris, there's a young boy, he's called Kylian Mbappe, he's already signed a contract with me. You should see him.'"
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So, Mbappe got his trial at Chelsea. It was arranged towards the end of the 2010/11 season. Mbappe was accompanied by his mother, father (Wilfried) and his old brother Jires Kembo Ekoko, who were all staying at a hotel in Cobham to be close to the club's training ground. "For four days I went there every day, speaking with them, to see how they felt about the atmosphere [at the club]," Boga explained.
On his trial, Mbappe only played the one match for Chelsea. As he explained to FourFourTwo a few years ago, he failed to score in the match but explained how it was a great experience for him.
"I played up front, but I don't think I scored," Mbappe said. "It was great – it was my first experience abroad and a chance for me to see what the game was like in England."
Boga said: "When he has the ball... amazing. He pushes the ball and you can't see him anymore. You could see that he had something special. When he went to his trial, I don't think he saw that he had the opportunity to give everything to sign for Chelsea."
Of course Mbappe never ended up signing for Chelsea. The France international stayed at AS Bondy up until 2013 before AS Monaco took a chance on him. And the rest, they say, is history.
"I think, to be fair, when you spoke with the boy he knew clearly what he wanted to do," Boga added. "He wanted to be the best.
"And from there you have the father behind him every time, telling him what he has to do, what not to do, tactically showing things, so they were already prepared. The mum was a professional handball player and the father was a coach. So everything was there."
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