London: So, Jose Mourinho and young players. We all know the story, right? Talks a good game, gives the kids a few meaningless minutes in the League Cup, but ultimately would rather purchase than promote from the academy.
Just look at striker Bertrand Traore, who in two years under Mourinho at Chelsea played a grand total of 30 minutes, of which just seven came in the league. Now on loan at Ajax, he has the perfect chance to exact his revenge on Mourinho’s Manchester United in Wednesday’s Europa League final.
It may come as something of a surprise, then, to find that Traore himself does not share this view. Just 21 but already mature beyond his years, Traore is a player on the cusp of the big time. And over an illuminating conversation at the club’s De Toekomst training ground, he underlines the debt he owes to his first professional club manager, who was sacked in late 2015.
“I owe him a lot,” Traore says. “People would say that when he was there, I didn’t play a lot, and I understand that,” Traore says. “But when you are at a club like Chelsea, and results are not going well, it is hard to change the team and put young players in. I wish he could have stayed. But this is football.
“He was the one who took me to pre-season at 17 for a trial, and gave me the opportunity to score goals. Then he decided to give me a professional contract and send me on loan to Vitesse. I had a great 11/2 years at Vitesse, and he called me back to the first-team squad and I got opportunities. For sure, I’ll be happy to meet him in Stockholm.”
Like most itinerant young players of his generation, Traore has had to learn on the job. He was capped by Burkina Faso at the age of just 15, and ever since has always caught the eye with his turn of pace, quick feet, clinical finishing and clever movement off the ball.
What he needed, on top of all that, was a tactical education. And there are few better places than Ajax to get one. These days, the four-time European champions have lost a little of their lustre, outmuscled by bigger clubs in richer leagues. But their reputation for nurturing young talent, from Johan Cruyff to Marco van Basten to Wesley Sneijder, remains pristine.
And while it is best known for its famous academy, slightly older players have also benefited from an Ajax diploma. Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both arrived at a formative stage in their careers, and Traore is hoping that Ajax could do for him what it did for them. “It is more like school,” he says. “You might play in the first team, but the way they treat you is like you are still in the academy. It’s the funniest thing. You know you have to keep learning, you are not yet there at the high level. That is why I came here. At Chelsea, I knew it would be difficult to play every game. Coming here was the best option.”
It has been a mutually beneficial relationship. Ajax offered Traore responsibility, minutes, career development, technical expertise from the likes of Dennis Bergkamp. Traore has paid them back with 13 goals, including two in the semi-final against Lyon, helping them to a first European final in more than two decades.
Chelsea, in turn, are getting back a player who is finally close to fulfilling the potential Mourinho first spotted when he took him on a pre-season tour of the Far East at the age of 17.
What did Traore learn from Mourinho? “I learnt everything on the pitch,” Traore says. “Showing big character. It’s not just about playing with the ball and doing what you can do, it’s about showing the character to push until the end, to rush back and defend, and attack as well.”
This summer, Traore will return to Chelsea again, and this time he wants to stay. Although he deals predominantly with Chelsea’s loan department rather than Antonio Conte himself, he has been encouraged by the manager’s willingness to provide returning loan players like Victor Moses, Nathaniel Chalobah and Nathan Ake with a path to the first-team.
Interestingly, however, he stops short of committing himself to the club for next season. “Chelsea is my club, and I always dreamed of playing for this club,” he says.
“I want to win the cup [Europa League], and return. But I don’t make the final decision. We will see what happens. When the season is finished I’ll go back to Chelsea, and for sure we will have a chat.”
Nonetheless, Traore was delighted to see his parent club win the Premier League. “I was very proud that Chelsea were champions,” he said. “I texted a few of the players to congratulate them. Now, it is time for myself also.
“When we got through against Lyon, I got a text from [Eden] Hazard saying good luck for the final.” Wednesday’s game, in Stockholm, could be a milepost in Traore’s career.
It will also be the first time he has met Mourinho since he was sacked from Chelsea. And from Traore’s words, it is clear that the respect is still there. “For sure, I’ll give him a hug,” he says. “I’m excited to see him. But I also have to score against him.”
