Midfielder was so convinced he was going to join PSG before £40m Chelsea move

Chelsea signed Tiemoue Bakayoko from AS Monaco back in the summer of 2017.

They paid £40m (Sky Sports) for his signature as Antonio Conte looked to strengthen his title-winning team.

However, Tiemoue Bakayoko has now told L’Equipe that he thought he would remain in France and join Paris Saint-Germain.

It might have been better if the midfielder did, as things did not work out for him at Chelsea.

In the end, Bakayoko spent just one season in the senior squad, going on more than one loan before eventually joining Lorient on a free transfer last summer.

Tiemoue Bakayoko thought he was going to join PSG
Bakayoko says it was hard to say no to Chelsea but initially thought PSG would be the club he would join from Monaco.

On his Monaco exit, the 29-year-old said: “I was very reluctant to leave Monaco. I thought I’d stay in France and join the best, PSG. But I always wanted to gain experience abroad, so when Chelsea, my favourite club after PSG, came calling, it was hard to turn them down.

“Antonio Conte really wanted me and followed me when he was at Juventus. We finished fifth in the league and won the cup. I take a lot of positives from my season.”

Tiemoue Bakayoko will regret joining Chelsea
If Bakayoko could go back in time, he would probably not join Chelsea and hold out for a move to PSG instead.

His time at Stamford Bridge was pretty much a disaster, with the Frenchman claiming that one of his managers there did not even speak to him.

He was at least able to win some silverware, picking up the FA Cup during his first season as a Chelsea player.

The France international would have wanted more and to have got more minutes. But what’s done is done and he has moved on now.

Maybe, though, if Conte remained at Stamford Bridge, his career would have gone differently. It was the Italian who brought him to west London, but he left a year later and was replaced by Maurizio Sarri.