Gianfranco Zola is regarded as the greatest player in Chelsea Football Club’s history. In his prime, he was a maestro with the ball at his feet. His vision, technical nous and goalscoring abilities drew worldwide admiration. He finished his career at Chelsea with 80 goals in 312 appearances.
In 2002-03, Zola played his final season at Chelsea. He finished the season with a personal best tally of 16 league goals. In his final match for Chelsea, against Liverpool, at Stamford Bridge, Zola had one instance of pure magic left in his locker.
2002–03 was his final season with Chelsea and he enjoyed a renaissance, scoring 16 goals, his highest seasonal tally for Chelsea, and was voted the club’s player of the year after helping Chelsea qualify for the Champions League. Zola scored his final goal for Chelsea, a lob from outside the penalty area against Everton, on Easter Monday 2003, and made his final competitive appearance for the club on the final day of the season with a 20-minute cameo against Liverpool, beating four Liverpool players during a fantastic dribble late on in the match, gaining applause from both sets of fans. This would become the final genuine moment of class in his Chelsea career.
After this Zola would leave Stamford Bridge because he had given his word to Cagliari, that he would play for them. He would play two seasons for them, earning them promotion in his first season there and would play one more year in the top flight of Italy, before hanging up his boots for good. After retirement, he has entered management, with mixed results so far in his career.
