By Kemoh Sesay
A Sierra Leonean international who plays for the reserve side of English Premier League outfit Chelsea Aziz Deen Conteh has told politico that, he has always loved to play football at the highest level.
In an exclusive interview with this press, 20 year old Conteh said he started his career at the age of 8, with lower league football clubs in England and between 12 and 13 bigger clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City invited him for trials.
“I spent some time with these clubs and my performance was good but with the long time I spent with them unfortunately none of them offered me a contract, only Chelsea offered me a scholarship contract at first, at age 16” said Conteh.
He said he then signed a professional contract with Chelsea when he was 18 years old
Conteh told Politico he was very happy for his present status of football because according to him, he has started seeing prospects of reaching the peak he is aiming at.
Responding to questions about his national call, Conteh said he felt honored and proud to be invited, “but it’s unfortunate that I did not play any of the two matches I was in invited for, I only knew about the reason when I arrived in Freetown that FIFA did not give the approval to the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) for me to play”.
He admitted that “it is very difficult to leave England to play for Sierra Leone, when you compare both countries in terms of football, but I am happy to be invited as not all of us will have the opportunity to play for England”.
Aziz Deen Conteh has played for the England under-19 team.
