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For some young players, they get their chance and hit the ground running. For others, it takes time to show off their full potential.
That is certainly true of Sassuolo winger Jeremie Boga.
Still only 23, Boga is thriving in the Emilia-Romagna region under coach Roberto De Zerbi to the extent that he is set to spark a bidding frenzy for his signature this summer.
Jeremie Boga has established himself as one of the most exciting young attackers in Serie A
Boga (far right) came through the academy at Chelsea but failed to transition to the first team
The question many, particularly in England, will ask is how Boga went from being allowed to leave Chelsea, having a hit and miss loan spell at Birmingham to becoming one of the most watchable and exciting attackers in Italy.
Sportsmail looks at the Ivorian’s rise and why a player of his directness and his skill-set is as in demand as ever now the transfer window is open for business.
Who is Jeremie Boga?
Boga grew up in Marseille and with the rich history of producing top players in the city, he never lost hope of making the grade as a professional.
He is incredibly family and friend-orientated. His brother Daniel represents him as his agent while his media adviser has been known to him since school days in France.
Boga’s dad was already working in London when in 2008, at the age of 11, he joined Chelsea’s academy.
Boga came through the ranks at Chelsea (left) but is now thriving out wide for Sassuolo (right)
The 23-year-old never got swallowed by arriving at a Premier League academy and continued to impress in a Chelsea youth team including Ola Aina, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.
‘I think our generation was one of the best Chelsea ever had,’ he told the Athletic.
Three of those have since made the grade under Frank Lampard in the Chelsea first team while Aina is also thriving out in Serie A, with Torino. But with the Blues inserting a buy-back option into his Sassuolo deal, things have the potential to go full circle.
How does he play?
The one bit of advice defenders will be given in film sessions before they play Sassuolo, and face Boga, is now to become isolated one-on-one.
Don’t let him cut inside onto his right foot will be the next instruction.
Both, however, are far easier said than done.
De Zerbi sticks to a free-flowing 4-2-3-1 with Boga pushed out to the left in the three midfielders providing ammunition behind the lone striker.
It is clear that regular game-time has aided Boga immensely.
He was picked up by Harry Redknapp for a loan spell at Birmingham before departing for Italy but never quite unlocked his own potential in what was an up-and-down campaign in his own words.
Serie A is littered with powerful wingers but in Boga a manager is getting boundless energy, directness and a major threat from distance (just ask Roma about that!).
Has he impressed this season?
A return of 11 goals and four assists is a sign of his growing impact on this goal-hungry Sassuolo side.
He does not start every game, De Zerbi occasionally preferring to channel Boga’s intensity, pace and dribbling ability off the bench against tired legs.
But Everton’s interest is a clear sign that there is a sense he is ready to cut the grade in England, a feeling he is a different player to the one that eventually left Chelsea to cut his teeth.
Sassuolo snapped him up from the Blues for £3.5million back in 2018 and are now looking at shifting that decimal point one spot to the right to the tune of £35m.
Like Stefano Sensi, Merih Demiral, Matteo Politano, Simone Zaza, Kevin Prince-Boateng and others, the Sassuolo graduation is closing in for Boga.
He has gone from a hidden gem to a not-so-secret star in Emilia Romagna.
He has 11 goals this season in a top-half side but has shown enough to think he can do more
Who wants him?
Everton, Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen.
Carlo Ancelotti, who admired Boga when he was Napoli coach earlier this season, is now reportedly keen to get him back to the Premier League but rather Merseyside, and not London.
Everton have shown flexibility in their formations but have had success in a 4-4-2 with both Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top.
Bernard has been one option off the left, as has Gylfi Sigurdsson, and so there would be competition for places. But in Boga, the Toffees’ would have that X-Factor, that moment of magic the likes of Bernard and Sigurdsson rarely seem to conjure up.
Leverkusen are braced for multiple offers to get star man Kai Havertz and so with cash potentially burning a hole in their pocket, Boga would represent an asset that has the potential to rocket in value.
As for Napoli, if they wrap up a deal for Lille’s Victor Osimhen, expect the Neapolitan side to cool.
Carlo Ancelotti is an admirer of Boga and is reportedly keen to bring him to Goodison Park
What has been said about him?
Superlatives can always be dangerous when it comes to emerging talents as it does not take much for players to hit a wall and the form they once had disappears off a cliff.
But, there is a lot of excitement in Italy about Boga and people want you to know about it.
Team-mate Filip Djuricic once told Corriere dello Sport, as per Football Italia: ‘Honestly, I don’t know any dribblers that are better than him.
‘I played with many people, but in beating his man, he’s the best I’ve ever seen.’
As for the thoughts of his manager, he could only come up ‘crazy’ to describe him.
De Zerbi, as per Tribal Football, said: ‘He must work hard and with the crazy talent he has, to get into a big one he must add other things like goals, participation in the plays and not being isolated for long stretches of the game.’
One of Boga’s team-mates at Sassuolo described him as the best dribbler in world football
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