Former Chelsea academy star retires at 24 for shock new career

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Nicolas Tie has retired at the age of 24 to join the French army.

Tie represented a number of the Blues' academy teams for three years having joined the club in 2017, and featured in Premier League 2, UEFA Youth League and Under-18 Premier League fixtures.

However, he was unable to make his breakthrough into the first team, with the likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero ahead of him in the packing order at the time.

Born in France, Tie was called up to the Ivory Coast squad in 2018 but was forced to withdraw due to injury. He was later selected for the 2020 Olympics.

The former shotstopper departed Chelsea that year to join Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes, where he failed to break into the first team over three years.

He has now called time on his career for a new venture in the French Army.

Tie told Ouest France: 'I've had some good tests and I've got the regiment I asked for.

'I'm ready, I'm training every day for this.'

Asked why he has called time on his football career, Tie responded: 'I lost my taste for football.

'I'm athletic, I didn't see myself doing an office job. I always liked military careers, so I said to myself: "Why not join the army?"

'My stepfather is a paratrooper in Ivory Coast. I used to go to the barracks to observe, it inspired me.'

Tie enlisted in the French Army's First Parachute Hussar Regiment on April 1 and says he is prepared for anything.

He said: 'I don't do politics. I have committed to treating the problem at the source. If the OPEX (external operation) in Ukraine is launched, let's go. It doesn't scare me.'

Tie also acknowledges that breaking into Chelsea’s first team felt nearly impossible, and seeing his friends from France’s national football center at Clairefontaine succeed made it even harder.

On his spell with the Blues, he added: 'There, I was always treated like the club's kid. I was upgraded in every category, from U13 to Premier League 2.

'But I saw all my friends from Clairefontaine, Sofiane Diop, Benoît Badiashile, and Lorenz Assignon making their Ligue 1 debuts, which made me want to try my hand at that level.

'I didn't want to be that player who was loaned out for a few months to Championship clubs.'