It took time for me to establish myself as a professional footballer. Even when I was 12, 14, 16, I was going to trials to try to get into the academies of professional teams but the answer was always the same.

'We already have players in the academy like N’Golo, or better, so we don’t need to take him.'

When I heard them say this, I always tried to be honest with myself. Between the ages of 10 and 19, I was playing district football in a suburb of Paris called Suresnes, and above that there was regional and national levels, so I was aware I was playing at a lower level than the other boys.

I knew I was one of the best players at my local team because I was always playing with the older boys, but I thought maybe I wasn’t ready at that time, maybe I needed to improve more. When I went for trials, I was looking at the players around me and, technically, tactically, they were better than the level I was used to playing at. I always tried to think about this when I didn’t get in after the trials. I told myself to keep working because maybe next time it would be the right time for me.

I felt maybe I just needed the experience and that if I had the opportunity to play at that level for even one year I would reach the same level, but a one-day or one-week trial was not enough for me to do that.

In the end, my chance came when I went to Boulogne at 19 and I had the opportunity to play in the second team, in the sixth division in France. My aim was to try and become one of the players who were chosen for the first team at the end of the season, and to do whatever I could to have a career. At the same time, I had to study because, as we know, many players don’t become professionals.

I was quite good at mathematics, so during the orientation for the last part of my schooling the advisor said that maybe it would be good for me to be an accountant. I thought it might be something good to do, so I decided to do an accountancy course after I got my baccalaureate [the French equivalent of an A-Level].

So when I left home to move to Boulogne, my project was to pass my exams and try my best to become a professional footballer. I was just taking it one step at a time, just focused on my football and studying.

We were travelling a lot at the weekend and we had training after school, so sometimes it was difficult to find the time to study, to organise myself to do the homework and revise, but I pushed myself to keep up with everything. I wasn’t the best student, but I passed my exam, so I was happy.

On the pitch, I had to adapt to the higher level. I was starting to play regularly in the sixth division, I was more confident, feeling good in the team and sometimes scoring goals.

When I was 21, I started to hear from my manager and the club that they wanted me to train a bit more with the first team – once a week. Sometimes they asked me to miss school to train with the first team and that was the time when I started to think, 'Maybe.'

It was a good step for me because I could see the professionals in training, learn from them, see how they worked. I really thought that I could be one of them if I worked very hard. That was my way into football, not coming through the academy to become a professional at a young age. It was a different path for me, and I’m proud to be here today.

I was always looking at myself and my own path, even when I was seeing other players my age in academies and then becoming professionals. My generation of the national team won the European Under-19s Championship at the time when I was playing for Boulogne’s second team. I was not looking at them and thinking I was behind, I was just thinking I was six divisions from the elite in France, so I just needed to do my job. I left my home to try and make football my profession, to live by doing what I love. I was just looking to take things step by step, not to focus on others, just doing my thing the best way I could. Then, step-by-step, everything happened.

I became a professional late and I’ve won many things that I couldn’t have expected, but behind my years as a professional there was a lot of work, a lot of successes and a lot of failures also. They helped me to grow as a player and a person. But I know I have many more years to play and I hope to keep being successful and to keep achieving beautiful things.

My motivation is still the same as it was: to do the best I can for the team, always. It’s not my motivation to say I can be this or I can be that. Success in football is something collective and this is always the most important thing to remember. To do your best for your team and win titles with your team-mates is the best thing in football.

A version of this article first appeared in the Chelsea matchday programme