I was a wonderful Chelsea boy, but I signed a new contract and then they treated me like a reserve player.

A former Chelsea wonderkid has admitted he regrets signing a new contract with the club.

Gael Kakuta He joined the Blues from French side Lens as a 16-year-old in 2007.

He debuted two years later, playing a total of 16 games with the club's first team.

The talented youngster also won the Premier League and the FA Cup with Chelsea during his stay in west London.

However, despite being highly rated at Stamford Bridge, he believes he made the wrong decision by signing a four-year contract when he was 19.

Kakuta signed a contract extension in 2010, but has now admitted that it would have been better to leave the club.

talking to SPORTBible In June, the midfielder explained: “We played a cup match against Newcastle UnitedEdit (for Chelsea in September 2010).

“It was blowing after about three minutes. I thought, 'How is that possible?'

“Then they kicked me in the back and I couldn't move. After that I had to work harder on my fitness levels, but it was actually too late. At that level, it's too late.

“I was very naive to sign that four-year contract.

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“Instead of renewing, I should have gone to another team that would have treated me like a first-team player and not a young man who made it to the first team.”

Kakuta had six loan spells away from Chelsea, including temporary stays at Fulham, Bolton and Lazio.

He was eventually sold to Sevilla in 2015 before spells in China and France in the subsequent nine years.

A former French youth international, Kakuta represented the Democratic Republic of the Congo 27 times at senior level and scored three goals.

Now 33, he joined the 13th club of his career in August.

Kakuta signed a one-year deal with Iranian side Esteghlal in the Persian Gulf Pro League this year.

Since then he has made 12 appearances, including against christian ronaldo in the AFC Champions League last month.