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Top 25 Chelsea players of the Premier League era - #5

Sports Mole's countdown of the top 25 Chelsea players in the Premier League era continues with number five - Gianfranco Zola.

Gianfranco Zola

Gianfranco Zola celebrates scoring against Manchester United on December 16, 1998.© Getty Images

While Arsenal had Dennis Bergkamp and Manchester United had Eric Cantona, Chelsea found their own foreign wizard in the early years of the Premier League when they brought Gianfranco Zola to the club from Parma in 1996.

The diminutive Italian made a habit of scoring spectacular goals during his seven-year stay at Stamford Bridge, perhaps most memorably producing an outrageous mid-air back-heel flick from a corner to score past Norwich City in 2002.

Zola's Chelsea career may not be as trophy-laden as the others who share a top-five spot in this countdown, but he was integral to their revival in the late 1990s and helped the club to two FA Cups, the League Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup between 1997 and 2000.

Voted Chelsea's Player of the Year on two occasions - and their greatest player of all time in a 2003 poll - Zola was also named the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1997.

The forward eventually left for Cagliari in 2003, by which point he had scored 80 goals in 312 appearances for Chelsea, including 59 in 229 Premier League outings.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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