'I wanted to play for Chelsea but got a four-month ban from football instead'

Gael Kakuta was facing a four-month suspension from football after Chelsea were accused of inducing the footballer to break his contract with Lens. The Frenchman joined the Premier League side's youth team in 2007 after spending eight years with the Ligue 1 outfit.

The fanfare over the signing of the then-15-year-old was palpable, given the reputation he cultivated in his homeland, but excitement soon turned to drama. FIFA deemed that the Blues led Kakuta to break his contract with Lens in order to sign with them.

The world's governing body doled out punishments for both club and player, as they imposed a transfer ban on the west London side that would stop them from registering new players for the next two transfer windows.

In Kakuta's case, they slapped the forward with a four-month ban from football while ordering him to pay a fine of £670,000. Chelsea did, however, successfully lobby the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in order to suspend their ban - and Kakuta's - until their full appeal against FIFA had played out.

The sanctions ended up being lifted by CAS with Kakuta making his professional debut in the 2009/10 season with Chelsea going on to win the Premier League and FA Cup double under Carlo Ancelotti.

Despite the initial excitement over his acquisition, the winger made only 16 appearances for Chelsea while failing to score a single goal. He's since discussed his time at Stamford Bridge, as in 2024, he spoke with Sportbible, where he said: "Everyone was curious because Chelsea were banned because of me.

"Everyone in the crowd was like, 'Oh, it's him. It's him.' I was thinking, 'Yeah, it's me. Let me prove myself and show what I’m made of.'" His first loan spell whilst a Chelsea player was with city rivals Fulham, who the Blues host on Saturday afternoon, and is where he scored his first professional goal in football.

Kakuta became a footballing nomad after leaving Chelsea permanently in 2015, having enjoyed stints in Spain, China, France, Iran and now Turkey, where he plays for Sakaryaspor.

He claimed that without the controversy that initially clouded his arrival in London, he believes he would have had a long and prosperous career at Chelsea. "I think I’d still be at Chelsea today if things turned out like they were supposed to," he admitted.

"In fact, I'd have finished my career there." Kakuta cited the lack of reserve team football and the unclear pathway of a youth player breaking into the first team as reasons for his failure to become a regular at the club.

He added: "We weren't playing reserve team football at the time. The first team were playing every three days, but we were barely involved. Those playing at youth level kept their confidence and rhythm. It was difficult."

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