'I started playing ball bootless'

Ghana left-back player, Baba Rahman, has revealed his first attempt at playing football was on the streets with 30 to 40 people at a time, without boots.

He said although it was tough it was fun.

“My mum told me that when I first set eyes on a football, and started kicking one, was when I started walking, so maybe one-and-a-half or two-years-old,” he told ChelseaFC.com.

The former Asante Kotoko defender said he loves Brazilian football, and, as a child, committed himself to learning the skills of Brazilians players.

In his view, it is awesome when a player makes a perfect long pass from one end of the pitch to the other, but bemoaned that people do not praise players that do so.

In response to a question about who his toughest opponents have been, outside Chelsea, Rahman said it was hard playing against Bayern Munich’s duo Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben.

The 21-year-old began his career at Dreams FC in the Ghana Division Two league. After impressive performances, he was transferred on loan to Asante Kotoko and subsequently moved to Greuther Furth in Germany in 2011.

He has played seven games in all competitions for Chelsea since his £21million transfer from German side FC Augsburg in August.