Why Gianfranco Zola almost left Chelsea in 2000
8Chelsea were fresh off winning their fifth trophy in five seasons, and Roman Abramovich hadn’t even begun to think about buying a football club yet.
The year was 2000. Gianluca Vialli was manager of Chelsea, for the time being anyway, and the club was in its third purple patch after securing their second of two FA Cups in three years, as well as the League Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and the Super Cup.
The catalyst for these successes was Gianfranco Zola. If Eric Cantona revolutionised the number 10 role in the early days of the Premier League then Zola, as well as Dennis Bergkamp, were taking that into the 21st century.
Zola would be named as Chelsea’s greatest ever player and would ultimately depart the club in 2003, when the club’s takeover was announced.
However, the diminutive Italian almost left the club in 2000. Fenerbahce lodged a £3m bid for the 33-year-old in a summer that potentially could’ve seen each of Zola, Tore Andre Flo and Chris Sutton leave the club.
In the end, Zola stayed and alongside new recruits Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as well as new manager Claudio Ranieri, navigated the club through choppy financial waters, allowing the club to run to the successes of the mid-2000s with Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.
#Chelsea #PremierLeague #Transfers
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Voice: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Words: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Edit: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
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