Former Chelsea academy goalkeeper joins France army

Former Chelsea academy goalkeeper, Nicolas Tié, has joined the French army at the age of 24, as he has revealed in an interview with Ouest-France. 

Tié left Poitiers at the age of 13 to join Chelsea’s academy. However, despite featuring at U18 and U23 level for the Blues, he never made an appearance for the first time. He then left to join Guimarães in Portugal but once again, despite making appearances for the youth sides, he never got his chance in the first team. 

Having failed to establish himself at either club, Tié has opted to end his professional career. “I lost the taste for football,” admitted the goalkeeper in an interview with Ouest-France. 

Former Chelsea goalkeeper open to fighting in Ukraine

The former Chelsea goalkeeper said that he had always been interested in joining the army with his step-dad being a parachutist in the Ivory Coast. He then decided that a job in the army was for him, too. “I am a sportsman. I didn’t see myself doing a desk job,” said Tié. 

He added that he had had “difficulties” in the months preceding his retirement but said that he was “lucky” to be at the club at the same time as the likes of N’Golo Kanté, Antonio Rüdiger, and Olivier Giroud. The former goalkeeper even added that he was open to serving in Ukraine. “I don’t do politics. I have committed to treating the problem at the source. If the OPEX (external operations, aka those taking place outside of France) in Ukraine is open, let’s go! It doesn’t scare me,” he told Ouest-France. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle