Ngolo Kante intercepts the ball near the area and finds Kylian Mbappe left totally unmarked with all the space in the world ahead of him on the left-hand-side; the French starboy runs like he’s got Usain Bolt’s snickers on, dashing into the rival’s box before sweeping it low into the far corner for Chelsea’s Champions League final win.Ehh, what a piece of wishful thinking, you’ll say. Fairytale, to say the least.But, as a matter of fact, it could have been a reality if only the Chelsea academy leadership had slightly more vision or courage some ten years ago when none other than Kylian Mbappe was in the palm of their hand.As per The Athletic, the talented 12-year-old boy came to Cobham in 2011 for a trial with the Blues, hoping to clinch a spot in their youth setups so he could later maybe pursue a fruitful career at Stamford Bridge.Don’t forget Chelsea rejected Mbappe for not being able to defend . They also sold KDB, Mo Salah, Lukaku, Robben, Prime mata. Thank you Chelsea 😭 pic.twitter.com/uCYKjjfIlz— JEFF TYMER 🇬🇭🏴 (@Jeff_Tymer_) December 4, 2022 Father Wilfried and mother Fayza accompanied Kylian, along with his older brother, Jires Kembo Ekoko, who was playing for Stade Rennais at the time. The young Kylian even got a chance to take a picture with legendary Didier Drogba outside the stadium and ahead of his only match for the Blues against the U-15 Charlton Athletic side.He told FourFourTwo magazine a few years ago that Chelsea won 6-0 or 7-0. “I played up front, but I don’t think I scored,” he said. “It was great – it was my first experience abroad and a chance to see what the game was like in England.”If Mbappe was a sprinter – he would collapse after 60 meters, if it were measured like this – Bolt would run 8.05!The man who arranged this trial for Mbappe, the agent and then-Chelsea scout, Daniel Boga, explained what actually happened then.”After the game finished, we were speaking in the office with Jim (Fraser, Chelsea’s head of youth recruitment) and they said, ‘Yeah, when he’s got the ball he is amazing, etc. But we want to see this hunger’.”He’ll be backBoga understood that message. “You know English football – you tackle, you track back players when you lose the ball. He wasn’t like that. When he lost the ball, he stopped playing.”So Chelsea said, ‘We want to see him again and we want to see this part of his football’.”But then the mum said, ‘No, we won’t come again’. I was translating. “She said, ‘Tell them, he won’t come back. If you want to sign him, you sign him now’. And she said, ‘In five years’ time, you will come back for him for £50million’. She said, ‘Translate that’.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##Boga, of course, felt there was no need for a blatant and accurate translation but told the Premier League club that it would be desirable to make a decision at that moment since they’re not into further postponements.”We tried to invite him back to Chelsea later, but he already had his plans to go to Clairefontaine (the national training centre for the best young players).”Could he have ever imagined what Mbappe would become? The Athletic asks Boga…”I think, to be fair, when you spoke with the boy, he knew clearly what he wanted to do. He wanted to be the best,” Boga concludes. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6899957##
