George reveals 'best decision' of his Chelsea career
- Published
Teenage winger Tyrique George says a family sacrifice when he was 12 was the "best decision" in helping his ascent to become a Chelsea player.
The now 19-year-old, who scored in Wednesday's 3-0 win over ES Tunis that helped Chelsea make the last 16 at the Club World Cup, described moving from Camden to Croydon as a boy was "tough" because he "didn't want to move".
However, now he recognises the move was pivotal to his career and saved his mother, who worked as a teacher, undertaking multiple gruelling journeys after work between Chelsea's Surrey training base and north London.
"I used to get the train with my mum from Camden to Cobham after school both there and back, which was really long," George said.
"I've got no clue what lines we took. I'd just get on the train with mum. She put in all those hours for me. She didn't have to do it. She took me to training after she'd finished work, there and back - tired.
"She's a teacher. Training would be an an hour and a half. We'd get back late, but it was worth it."
Eventually, like many talented youngsters in Chelsea's academy, George was offered the chance to move to south Croydon, nearer the club's training base.
But George admits it was not an easy decision to make, adding: "I was living in Camden and then I moved to south Croydon when I was 12 to another school. It was a tough move, to be fair. I didn't really want to move to south Croydon. I left behind most of my mates.
"I was emotional. All my friends were in north London, so me moving away to a completely new area was tough. But I eventually enjoyed it and it was closer to training so after a month or two, it wasn't too bad.
"It was worth it. I think it was the best decision I ever made."
George is now paying his family back having made his 26th appearance of the season but he could be sent out on loan for 2025-26 with Chelsea looking to sign at least one further attacker this summer.
Asked about the possibility, he said: "I'm not really too sure. There's always going to be competition whether they do sign one or not. I'm always ready to learn from them. I learn from all the forward players."