Jérémie Boga (born 3 January 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Coming through

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

's youth system, Boga spent the 2015–16 season on loan to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

and the 2016–17 season with

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, also on loan, before making his first-team debut for Chelsea in August 2017. He then joined

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

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, but then chose to play for his parents' country, Ivory Coast, at senior level. He was also eligible to represent England.

Club career

Chelsea

In 2008, Boga joined

from ASPTT Marseille as a youngster when he moved with his family to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where his father worked. He was educated at

Richard Challoner School Richard Challoner School is an all boys secondary school with a mixed sixth form that is federated with Holy Cross School, New Malden. It has an academy status and is located in Surrey, England. The school is named after Bishop Richard Chall ...

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

. After impressing in Chelsea's Academy, he earned himself his first professional contract, therefore keeping at the London-based club until 2017. He was named on the bench for Chelsea's final game of the 2014–15 season, a 3–1 victory against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, but he remained unused.

Loan to Stade Rennais

On 31 August 2015, Boga joined

on a season-long loan to gain first team experience since his impressive spell in the Chelsea youth system. He made his debut on 18 September, as an 82nd-minute substitute for Paul-Georges Ntep in a 1–1 draw with

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. At the beginning of October, Boga made a single appearance for Rennes' reserve team against

GSI Pontivy GSI Pontivy (french: Garde Saint-Ivy Pontivy) is a French football club based in Pontivy, Morbihan. It was founded in 1935. They play at the Stade Municipal du Faubourg de Verdun, which has a capacity of 3,200. The colours of the club are gree ...

, in which he scored the only goal of the game, converting a penalty in the first-half. On 28 November 2015, in his first start for the team, Boga scored his first professional goal, against

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

which resulted in a 2–2 draw. His second goal of the season took the Round of 64

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

match against

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

into extra time. The game went to penalties, and Rennes won the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

7–6. On 9 January 2016, Boga scored his third goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

Loan to Granada

On 6 July 2016, Boga joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

on a season-long loan. He made his Granada debut on 20 August in a 1–1 draw with

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. A week later, Boga scored his first goal in a 5–1 home defeat against

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

, scoring Granada's equalizer after Las Palmas took the lead through former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

player

Nabil El Zhar Nabil El Zhar ( ar, نبيل الزهر; born 27 August 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger. He finished his formation at Liverpool, playing sparingly for the club and more consistently on loan at PAOK in 2010–11. ...

. On 2 April 2017, Boga scored the equalizing goal against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Granada lost the game 4–1.

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 Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. However, he was substituted in the 18th minute after

Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...

was sent off. He signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea before, on 28 August 2017, joining

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on loan for the 2017–18 season. He was one of six debutants in Birmingham's next fixture, away to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He played the whole match as his team lost 1–0, and continued in the side for the next five league matches. Incoming manager

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town. Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...

imposed a fitness programme on the players, and on Boga in particular, who did not start another match for two months. When he did return, in a 1–1 draw away to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

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 Blackman, Originally ''Blæcmann'', is an Old English name meaning "''dark man''". The name was once given to Danish Vikings who settled in southern Scotland. It is also listed in the genealogy of the kings of Bernicia. Early on, it was commonly us ...

's outstretched hands"; the goal won him the club's Goal of the Season award. Two weeks later, with his side losing 1–0 away to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

with 15 minutes left, he missed a penalty, hitting his shot too high. Cotterill continued to select Boga, and he scored his second Birmingham goal with a powerful header in a 3–1 win against

in late January that lifted his team out of the relegation positions. He played less under Cotterill's successor,

Garry Monk Garry Alan Monk (born 6 March 1979) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a centre back, and was most recently the manager of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday. His managerial career includes spells at ...

, and not at all in the last few weeks of the season, as Birmingham narrowly avoided relegation. In all competitions, he made 34 appearances, 25 of which were starts.

Sassuolo

On 21 July 2018, he moved to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on a permanent transfer for a fee reported to be around £3.5 million.

Atalanta

On 24 January 2022, Boga moved to

, initially on loan, with Atalanta holding an obligation to make the deal permanent.

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. He was called up to the Ivory Coast national team for the first time for a friendly match against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and an African Cup of Nations qualifier against

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

on 4 and 10 June 2017. He made his debut in the latter, coming on for

Jean Michaël Seri Jean Michaël Seri (born 19 July 1991) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Hull City and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career in the Ivory Coast In his native Ivor ...

in the 77th minute of a 3–2 home defeat.

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.''

Honours

Chelsea Youth *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Professional U21 Development League: 2013–14 *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boga, Jeremie 1997 births Living people Footballers from Marseille French footballers Ivorian footballers Association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Granada CF footballers Birmingham City F.C. players U.S. Sassuolo Calcio players Atalanta B.C. players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Premier League players English Football League players Serie A players France youth international footballers Ivory Coast international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Citizens of Ivory Coast through descent