I want to begin with saying that I am far from bashing the current Chelsea owners in this article, that is completely not the purpose of this. Also, I’ve actually been quite the defender of our owners since they came in and I think they will be super successful. Will they get to Roman Abramovich level of success? I hope so, but it’s just a fact to me that they have some very tough footsteps to follow in, and this below story is just one example of why.
Gianfranco Zola is a Chelsea legend, and he is one of the best ever players that I have personally witnessed play live, period.
There wasn’t many Zola’s before he came along, and there will not be many Zola’s ever again. Zola and Eden Hazard often get compared and debated, but for me, I always dislike getting into those kinds of debates because I always prefer to just appreciate the miracle that was both players, who were super special and one of a kind, players that come along once in a blue moon.
When Zola left, we didn’t have another player like him until Hazard. And then Hazard left, we still haven’t seen another player at Stamford Bridge like him, or like Zola. These players are one in a billion players and we just have to appreciate the fact that we got to witness them in Chelsea blue.
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It seems that our former owner Roman Abramovich also thought the same about Zola, because when the Italian left the club, Roman wanted him back so much that he was prepared to buy Cagliari, the club Zola went to after us!
Zola made 311 appearances for Chelsea and scored 80 goals, but when he left, little did he know that the Chelsea era of dominance was about to begin.
Zola returned to his hometown club Cagliari in the summer of 2003, during a time when Chelsea was sold by Ken Bates to Abramovich, which as we all know, began the most successful period our club has ever witnessed so far.
“I received a call from Ken Bates, who at the time was still the owner,” Zola said during an interview this week. “He knew I was in talks with Cagliari for a return to Sardinia. He said ‘Gianfranco, I hope you haven’t signed yet. Wait, because someone will come – I cannot give you his name right now – but he will make you change your mind.”
“I told Bates that I was sorry, but I’d already given my word. I found out the next day it was Abramovich, who had bought the club.”
Zola was asked about the story that Abramovich then called Cagliari President Massimo Cellino to enquire about buying Zola, so when the answer was no, our former owner asked how much it would cost to buy the whole club instead!
“That’s what Cellino said happened,” confessed Zola.
“I know that when Abramovich bought the club, he thought I was a Chelsea player, so he tried to get me back. He didn’t know that I had already made my decision and given my word.”
This is just magnificent, and truly sums up Abramovich as an owner. He couldn’t buy the player, so offered to buy the club. Incredible stuff!
I look back at that period of time with a lot of love and amazing memories. But right before that time and before the 90s, when I first started supporting Chelsea, I remember the end of the tough times as well. The old second division (vaguely).
So that is why I know that the good times will come back to this club again and under this ownership, I have faith that we can soon have another ‘successful’ era at this club. More ups and downs to come for sure, but we will get back there again.
Quotes via Si & Dan Talk Chelsea
