Jamie Jermaine Bynoe-Gittens was born on August 8th, 2004, in Reading, Berkshire.
A football-obsessed young boy, who idolised Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, it must have been a dream to be accepted into the Blues’ academy, his performances for his local side Caversham Trents gaining their attention.
Alas, the 75-minute each-way trip proved to be problematic, and after a short period of juggling games for Chelsea’s Under 9s and Reading’s Under 9s a decision had to be made. Reluctantly, he chose to focus solely on the latter.
With the Royals he thrived, moving up through the age-groups and quickly establishing himself as a tricky winger of genuine note.
A former coach of his at Reading recalls the youngster always wanting the ball, always wanting to beat his man. “He wanted to be that exciting player who got people out of their chairs.”
It wasn’t long before word got around, with the local newspaper referring to Gittens as a ‘wonderkid’. Arsenal began to take a keen interest.
Then, in 2018 and with his reputation soaring, Gittens had his second big decision to make when, at the tender age of 14, Manchester City came calling.
To paraphrase that famous song about New York, if you can make it at City, you can make it anywhere, it being the best – but most demanding – youth set-up in the country.
Inspired by the progress made by Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho before him, Gittens took the plunge, relocating to an unfamiliar city and finding himself housed with a host family.
Home sickness became a real issue. The football however was not.
Tearing it up in Manchester, the teenager’s skills were soon shared on social media, with City fans excited about the prospect of him doing similar in the first-team. That day though never arrived.
Borussia Dortmund
That’s because, soon after his 16th birthday, the winger took a call from his agent, informing him of an official approach from Borussia Dortmund.
Naturally, joining Die Schwarzgelben from City’s EDS side, at such a young age – and being a flying winger to boot – led to Gittens immediately being viewed in some quarters as Jadon Sancho’s successor, the England star taking the exact same route and fully capitalising on it.
If this put extra pressure on the teen however it didn’t show in his initial displays, assisting on his second outing for Dortmund’s Under 19s.
Cruelly, at this critical juncture, a worldwide pandemic curtailed his development but on football’s resumption the player wasted little time in making his mark. Across the opening months of the 2021/22 season, he scored 11 times, five of them in the UEFA Youth League.
Unsurprisingly, such excellence prompted Marco Rose to promote him to the first-team, Gittens coming on with two minutes to spare against Wolfsburg as the campaign drew to a close.
The next season however proved to be a frustrating one for the player, a succession of sub appearances interspersed with first a serious shoulder injury, then a recurrence of it.
It took until the 2023/24 season for Gittens’ highlights reel to build up, even if, again, they came mostly from the bench.
By now, he was making a name for himself as an impactful supersub, someone capable of turning games around via his dynamic output down the left. In one of his rare starts in late November he both scored and assisted away at AC Milan in Europe.
In the Bundesliga he contributed six assists. That May he made a late cameo as Dortmund – unfancied in the football betting – lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
And his trajectory took an even sharper rise the year after. As the German press dubbed him ‘Golden Boy’, Gittens scored at the Bernabeu and racked up 12 goal involvements on the domestic front.
In truth, and often through no fault of his own, it took Jamie Gittens a while to get ‘there’ but by signing for a big foreign team so young that can be excused. By 2025 though, he was for sure a leading light on the footballing stage.
Chelsea
In early July, following a prolonged chase, and nigh-on15 years after almost having the winger on their books as a precocious kid, Chelsea signed Gittens for £48.5m, with a further £3.5m in add-ons.
Ironically, he arrived in the summer that saw Jadon Sancho leave Stamford Bridge, and though other attacking talent has joined Gittens in West London he should be backed in the betting to succeed. His fearless, direct style will ensure that, making him a fan favourite from the off.
Certainly, the player talks a good game, saying on signing for the Blues: “I can’t wait to learn from everyone in the team and to push myself to the max. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Back in 2018 it felt inevitable that Gittens would light up Premier League pitches with his dribbling and pace. We had to wait a fair bit but finally here he is.
How Much Is Jamie Gittens Worth?
Just a year into his German odyssey, Gittens was handed an improved deal that bumped up his wage to £50,000 a week.
It placed him among the club’s highest earners, despite him not being an established first-team star at the time. It showed the substantial faith they had in him.
On joining Chelsea, on a seven-year contract, that weekly income has rocketed to £90,000 a week, with a reported £1m on top in performance related bonuses.
Factor in a colossal signing-on fee, along with a pay day from Nike for wearing their Mercurial boots, and Jamie Gittens’ net worth is estimated to be north of £9m.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
