Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri used to complain he had one major problem with his young striker Mikael Forssell.

The Finn’s appetite for playing meant the Chelsea staff were ordered to hide the balls from him, so he couldn’t stay out on the training pitch hours after his team-mates had gone home.

"It’s true," laughs Forssell, whose loan stint at Birmingham has yielded an impressive nine goals this season.

"I’ve put in extra practice since I’ve been five-years-old – it has sometimes been a problem for my managers!

"I like to stay on my own at the end of every session and practise things like shooting and juggling.

"At Chelsea, they used to come after me and take the balls away. It’s nice at Birmingham, it is more relaxed and I can stay out all day if I want to," the Finn told TheFA.com in an exclusive interview.

Forssell has been an integral part of Birmingham’s impressive season, in particular enjoying a fruitful partnership with French World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry. He will reach double figures if he scores at Manchester City on Sunday.

However, it should be remembered that he only signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea in the summer. It was the subsequent arrivals of Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu that made a loan move the best way to get regular football this season.

Forssell is something of a loan star. After signing for Chelsea as a 17-year-old in 1998, he learned about the English game at Crystal Palace. Last season his seven goals in 12 games helped Borussia Moenchengladbach avoid relegation from the Bundesliga.

He was half-expecting to be involved at Chelsea this season with the departure of Gianfranco Zola, until a certain Russian billionaire got involved.

"I played some pre–season games and scored goals but then Abramovich came and bought half the world! That’s the way things are in football, you have to adapt to things."

The coming months will tell us where the 22-year-old’s future lies. Of course, if Chelsea want to recall him next season the temptation may be too hard to resist.

But if they allow him to leave, Birmingham and other clubs are bound to be interested.

"Everything is open," says the young forward, who will be helping Finland in a very tough World Cup qualifying group alongside Holland, Romania and the Czech Republic.

"I have three years left on my contract at Chelsea after this season, so I will have to see what they want as well."

In the meantime, the much-travelled youngster has settled in famously in the Midlands.

"I have friends in London but I don’t seem to return that often any more," he admits.

With a full Premiership programme and FA Cup run to contend with, poor Mikael barely has time to put in the extra training these days!

Did you know?: Forssell's Finnish international team-mate Aki Riihilahti of Crystal Palace scored the first goal in Sven- Goran Eriksson's first competitive match as England manager.