“I was very naive”- Ligue 2 star expresses regret over penning 4-year deal at Chelsea in the past

Chelsea’s former star Kakuta reflects on regrettable Chelsea move and missed career milestones

Chelsea’s former star Gael Kakuta has expressed his regret by stating that he could have concluded his career with the club if not for the numerous troubles that marred his stay at Stamford Bridge. (via Football London)

Kakuta is currently on the books at Ligue 2 club Amiens after spending six years in west London, but his ideal transfer to the Premier League turned into a nightmare.

After being selected into the Blues’ youth tiers and earning the academy’s Player of the Year title in his first season, Kakuta was promoted to the main squad.

Despite signing a four-year deal following his top-flight and Champions League debuts, Kakuta only appeared six times at the senior level. He also had a string of disappointing loan periods, which threw his career into disarray.

Now that his playing career is coming to an end, Kakuta has reminisced fondly on his time at Chelsea and admits that signing a long-term contract was a mistake.

“I think I’d still be at Chelsea today if things turned out like they were supposed to,” he admitted to SPORTbible.

“In fact, I’d have finished my career there.”

“I remember after my first training session with the first-team, (Carlo) Ancelotti looked at me and just winked,” Kakuta added. 

“I could tell my teammates were impressed by their facial expressions.

“At the time, I was thinking, ‘Okay, now this is serious’.

“Before that, I was just enjoying it. It’s not that I wasn’t taking it seriously but people were putting too much pressure on the guys. There were lots of talented players who would come into first-team training and get very nervous. I wasn’t like that at all.”

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There’s no doubt Kakuta was a good player, but the Blues didn’t get the best out of him. Now it’s a story of what could have been for the ex-Chelsea academy graduate who never really realised his true potential.