Dan PETRESCU

The somewhat protracted £2.3 million transfer of Sheffield Wednesday's Dan Petrescu to Chelsea finally gave a semblance of vindication to Glenn Hoddle's stubborn insistence on playing a sweeper system. Having previously tried to implement the system by using converted full-backs on the flanks, the signing of the specialist right wing-back gave a new dimension to Hoddle's team. The stylish Romanian made an immediate return to Yorkshire to make his debut in a 1-0 defeat at Leeds in November 1995, The Blues' last defeat until after Christmas. He recorded his first goal for Chelsea with a shot from the edge of the box which was enough to defeat top-of-the-table Newcastle United in December, and shot home again to open the scoring against Wimbledon on Boxing Day only for The Dons to reply twice to bring Chelsea's unbeaten run to an end. His first season was illuminated by a lengthy FA Cup run. Petrescu was amongst the scorers as The Blues recorded a 3-1 victory at Wimbledon to reach the final four but was suspended as Chelsea lost 2-1 to Manchester United in the semi-final at Villa Park.

Ruud Gullit's elevation to the position of Player/Manager, and the arrivals of Di Matteo, Leboeuf, Vialli and Zola, gave The Blues a distinctly continental look during the 1996/97 season. Gullit initially retained Hoddle's formation and Dan's game flourished amongst such exalted company. He scored his first goal of the campaign with a deflected shot which earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw at Blackburn on the day that Gianfranco Zola made his debut, and also found the net in a 6-2 rout of relegation-bound Sunderland. His only other goal that season came, almost inevitably, against Wimbledon as The Blues clinched a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park. The Dons were also Chelsea's opponents in that year's FA Cup semi-final but Petrescu was surprisingly omitted as Gullit opted to field an extra centre-half to combat Wimbledon's aerial threat. The manager's tactics paid off handsomely and The Blues reached the Final courtesy of a 3-0 win. Dan was recalled to the team a week later and remained an ever-present for the rest of the season, playing on the right of midfield at Wembley as Chelsea won their first major trophy for 26 years with a 2-0 triumph over Middlesbrough. (Kelvin Barker)

The decision to move Dan Petrescu into midfield permanently was quickly vindicated early in 1997/98 when he found the target in three consecutive August victories. He opened the scoring in a 6-0 victory at Barnsley and with a delightful chip as Southampton were beaten 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. Sandwiched in between was another successful trip to Selhurst Park where he again found the net against Wimbledon as Chelsea secured a 2-0 triumph. Chelsea challenged on three fronts that season. They finished fourth in the Premiership, Petrescu adding to his August tally with two more outstanding strikes in December, as The Blues recorded handsome victories at Tottenham and Sheffield Wednesday, 6-1 and 4-1 respectively. However, it was in the cup tournaments that The Blues really excelled, and Dan earned two more winner's medals. He scored a tremendous goal which secured a 4-3 aggregate victory over Arsenal in the Coca-Cola Cup semi-final, and was a member of the team who again triumphed 2-0 at Wembley against Middlesbrough in the Final. Chelsea also won the European Cup Winners Cup, Dan having scored twice in a 7-1 thrashing of Norwegians Tromso along the way, but he was bizarrely sent-off for a harmless challenge towards the end of the Final in which The Blues beat Stuttgart 1-0. A further influx of world class resources that summer gave Chelsea the opportunity to make a concerted title challenge in 1998/99.

Petrescu began the season amongst the substitutes but returned to the starting line-up for the visit of Wimbledon in November and, naturally, scored in a 3-0 win. Dan eventually made 32 Premiership appearances that campaign, nine as a substitute, and also found the target in a 1-0 win at Newcastle and in a 3-1 win over Everton. A third place finish gave Chelsea a Champions League spot and there were no sign of the traumas ahead when The Blues began 1999/2000 with four wins and a draw from their first five League matches, one of which was a 1-0 win at Wimbledon with the goal coming, yet again, from the right-foot of Dan Petrescu. An impressive performance in the two group stages of the Champions League, including a 1-0 win over Galatasaray at Stamford Bridge in which Dan scored the winning goal, saw Chelsea reach the quarter-finals, and a fine FA Cup run took Chelsea back to Wembley, but Premiership form fell by the wayside. Petrescu scored three more times, an equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Bradford City, and once each in 3-2 defeats against Arsenal and Manchester United. That game at Old Trafford in April 2000 proved to be Dan's last in a Chelsea shirt. Substituted late in the game, Petrescu angrily stormed out of the ground before the game had finished. Manager Gianluca Vialli's response was to omit his former team-mate for the remainder of the season and the Romanian was no more than a spectator when The Blues lifted the FA Cup in May. That summer he was transferred to Bradford City for £1 million, to the dismay of the majority of the Stamford Bridge faithful. (Kelvin Barker)