Jamie Gittens has revealed that two of his new Chelsea teammates were pestering him about completing his move from Borussia Dortmund.
The Englishman’s move to Stamford Bridge was finally confirmed on Saturday after Chelsea agreed a £48.5million deal with the Bundesliga club.
Gittens, who spent time in Chelsea’s youth set-up, scored 17 goals and contributed 14 assists in 107 games over his four seasons at Dortmund.
Both clubs had been locked in negotiations to try and agree a deal before the Club World Cup, but have now completed a deal which includes a further £3.5m in add-ons.
Gittens will be able to play no part in the rest of the tournament in America, but is expected to provide Enzo Maresca’s side with some much-needed depth in wide forward positions next season.
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And the 20-year-old admitted that he had already been in conversation with two of his new teammates who were very keen to see him make the move to Stamford Bridge.
‘I played with Cole (Palmer) at Under-16s and Under-18s, and Liam (Delap) the same,’ Gittens told the club’s official website.
‘And I’ve played against Levi (Colwill) from every single time we’d play against Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup, Premier League tournaments, the lot.
‘I had a couple of text messages from Cole telling me to come, the same from Liam, and all of them were eager for me to join.’
Gittens spent time at Manchester City prior to his move to Germany, and is the latest product from that academy to join Maresca’s squad.
‘I think I left England a boy, but I’ve come back as a man,’ he added.
‘Before I went to Dortmund, I was living by myself in digs in Manchester, so I’ve lived without my family since I was 14. Since then, I’ve developed as a man.
‘It was massive for me. I went there during lockdown – it was Covid times – so I was stuck in the youth house at Dortmund and, during the first year and a half, there were no football games, only training.
‘Then I had an injury, so it took me two years to get into my rhythm properly. It wasn’t easy being injured; it was tough, but you learn a lot during difficult periods, and after that, it was quite smooth.
‘It was lots of FaceTime calls with my mum, dad and sister. Playing with my friends on PlayStation, going into party chat, but it made me better and more resilient to challenges by living alone.
‘It taught me a lot about how to be patient and how to keep working without being distracted.’
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