In November 1996, Gianfranco Zola joined Chelsea and this was one of the club’s best signings.
Having made his name with Napoli and Parma, the young star has been packing his stuff across the English Premier League and one of the people who played the most role in this transfer is inevitable Carlo Ancele. Atti, Italian trainer But not in the optimism of pushing for a career in Stamford. Bridge in any way
After taking over as Parma’s manager in 1996, Ancelotti decided that Gianfranco Zola would play more on the right-hand side than as a central striker in a team that There are many players in the middle.
Zola, of course, did not agree with this. He looks for opportunities to transfer teams. And at that moment Chelsea contacted me.
The failure of Glenn Hoddle in the 1994/95 season, which finished 11th in the table, in the FA Cup semi-finals and the League Cup second round, led to a manager change. of the team and it was Ruud Gullit, the legendary Dutch national team player who was pushed up as a popular player/manager at the time.
Many foreign players were drawn, including Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo, Franck Lebove, Folde Grodas and Gianfranco Zola.
“I only found out later,” Zola revealed of Chelsea’s attempts at signing when Glenn Hoddle is in charge before Euro 1996. Before being sack. “I didn’t know then. I think they tried to contact Parma and the club refused.
“Then it was Euro 96 and Italy weren’t doing so well and I was doing badly myself. My reputation has gone down Besides, with any club, it doesn’t seem like it. So they lower the price.”
“Moving to Chelsea happened quite quickly, I spoke with Roberto Di Matteo and Gianluca Vialli, they moved there and we played in the Italian national team. together So they told me how cool it is to play against Chelsea and Premier League football.
“I’ve been thinking about moving to a foreign country as well. So when they contacted it, it came to an end in a few days, a week.”
“On the one hand I wanted to have experience abroad and on the other hand I wanted to leave Parma, which was difficult at the time. It’s as simple as that. I just want to do well and enjoy my football. If I enjoy something and do it with a smile things will happen.”