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 lea ...

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionIvory Coast national team. Coming through Chelsea's youth system, Boga spent the 2015–16 season on loan to

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

and the 2016–17 season with

Granada Granada ( ; ) 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 foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

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

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

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. The team compete in the ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. In 2018, he moved to Italian club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) 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 is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where his father worked. He was educated at Richard Challoner School in

New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...

. 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, but he remained unused.

Loan to Stade Rennais

On 31 August 2015, Boga joined

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

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 (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

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

GSI Pontivy GSI 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 green and white. For the 2018–1 ...

, 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 football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

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 (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

match against

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

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

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

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 as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Granada Granada ( ; ) 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 foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

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

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) 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 capital ( ...

, 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 Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

player Nabil El Zhar. On 2 April 2017, Boga scored the equalizing goal against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

. 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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. 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 sys ...

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. The team compete in the ...

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 is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. 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 coach and former player who is currently the manager of National League side Forest Green Rovers. Cotterill, a striker, had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albio ...

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 based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

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"; 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 and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

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

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

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 was most recently the head coach of club Cambridge United. Monk, a centre back, began his playing career with Torquay United before joining ...

, 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 (; ) 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 is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

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

Atalanta

On 24 January 2022, Boga moved to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, initially on loan, with Atalanta holding an obligation to make the deal permanent. His deal was made permanent at the end of the 2021–22 season. In one and a half seasons at the club, Boga contributed four goals and six assists across all competitions.

Nice

On 25 July 2023,

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionunder-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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and an African Cup of Nations qualifier against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

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 Saudi Pro League club Al-Orobah and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career in the Ivory Coast In his native Ivo ...

in the 77th minute of a 3–2 home defeat. Boga participated in its first international competition at the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's ass ...

in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, with eliminated in the Round of 16 by

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

at the goal. On 28 December 2023, he was selected from the list of 27 Ivorian players selected by Jean-Louis Gasset to compete in the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

.

Personal life

Boga was born in Marseille, France, to Ivorian parents.

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 under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

: 2014–15 Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

Profile
at the OGC Nice website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boga, Jeremie 1997 births Living people Footballers from Marseille French men's footballers Ivorian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Stade Rennais FC players Granada CF footballers Birmingham City F.C. players US Sassuolo Calcio players Atalanta BC players OGC Nice players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Premier League players English Football League players Serie A players France men's youth international footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players French expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's 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 21st-century French sportsmen