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It is perhaps fair to say that the signing of a full-back, regardless of
his pedigree, rarely causes unmitigated excitement amongst a club's
supporters. However, when that player is a current Spanish international
who plays for Barcelona, and recently found the net in a 4-0 Champions
League drubbing of Manchester United, those same supporters can be
forgiven for letting themselves go a little. Albert Ferrer swapped the
Nou Camp for Stamford Bridge immediately after Spain's disappointing
1998 World Cup campaign, the Londoners paying £2.2 million to capture
his services, and made his debut in a 2-1 defeat at Coventry on the
opening day of the 1998/99 season. Ironically, his first opportunity to
savour victory in a Chelsea shirt came a fortnight later with a European
Super Cup triumph over his previous club's biggest rivals, Real Madrid.
The Blues' impressive title push, which was ultimately undermined by a
string of injuries suffered by the club's strikers, was built on very
solid foundations, and Ferrer's industrious performances and crisp
tackling on the right side of a trusty back four were outstanding. He
made 30 league appearances that year as Chelsea finished third and thus
qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Albert's wealth of experience in Europe was in evidence as he appeared
in fourteen of The Blues' sixteen Champions League fixtures in
1999/2000, scoring what proved to be his only goal for the club in a 2-0
defeat of Hertha Berlin. The European adventure ended at the
quarter-final stage with a trip back home for the diminutive Catalan,
although a foot injury brought the match to a premature end for him as
Barcelona overturned Chelsea's first-leg lead. Occasional injuries, and
Gianluca Vialli's squad rotation policy, restricted Ferrer to 25
Premiership appearances that season as Chelsea failed to build on the
previous season's showing. They did, however, reach the FA Cup Final but
Albert was injured in the final league match of the season and was
unable to take his place at Wembley as Aston Villa were beaten 1-0.
Ferrer inexplicably fell from favour at the start of the new campaign
and was discarded, without explanation, by Vialli. The manager's
dismissal three weeks into the new season saw him replaced by
experienced compatriot Claudio Ranieri, and the new man re-instated
Albert at right-back for a 3-0 thrashing of Liverpool at the beginning
of October.
It was to be a relatively short-lived comeback. Ferrer made
fourteen league appearances that season and just four in the following
campaign, although he contributed in no small measure to Chelsea's FA
Cup run, most notably with an outstanding performance at left-back in
the semi-final when he replaced Graeme Le Saux in the opening minutes.
He was not selected for the final, which Chelsea lost 2-0 against
Arsenal, and the following campaign, 2002/03, he was given just three
Premiership starts. Sadly, his contract expired at the end of that
season and was not renewed. One of the finest right-backs in Chelsea's
history, he left the club in May 2003 with the intention of taking a
break before deciding whether to return to the game which he had graced
so impeccably. (Kelvin Barker)
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