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We all make mistakes, and one of the worst Gianluca Vialli made as
Chelsea manager was to acclaim new signing Gabriele Ambrosetti as the
'Italian Ryan Giggs'. Lightweight left-winger Ambrosetti had caught the
eye playing for Vicenza during a titanic European Cup Winners Cup
semi-final against the Blues in 1998, and was finally captured by Vialli
a year later for £3.5m.
Signed predominantly to provide the service
upon which another new capture, £10m centre-forward Chris Sutton, would
be expected to thrive, Ambrosetti's debut came as a late replacement for
Gianfranco Zola against Aston Villa in August 1999, but he immediately
appeared ill-equipped to cope with the rigours of the English game, and
despite a stunning strike - his only goal for Chelsea - after coming on
as a substitute during a 5-0 Champions League rout of Galatasaray in
Istanbul, he was soon the victim of loud criticism from the supporters,
on one occasion being disgracefully booed as he warmed up from the subs'
bench during an FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest.
Ambrosetti's best
performance for Chelsea came as a 50th minute substitute against
Coventry in April 2000, when he put the Sky Blues' right-back, Paul
Telfer, to the sword throughout an inspired second period as Chelsea
triumphed 2-1, but he subsequently failed to build on that performance
and the most telling statistic of all was that throughout his first
season at Stamford Bridge, he completed just two full matches from a
total of 23 appearances in all competitions. And that proved to be the
sum total of Ambrosetti's Chelsea career, other than three reserve
matches during the 2000/01 campaign. Vialli left after five games of
that season and his replacement, Claudio Ranieri, chose not to select
his compatriot.
A lengthy loan spell at Piacenza followed and, to the
relief of everyone concerned, the Italian club made the deal permanent
in the summer of 2002 when they signed the 'Italian Ryan Giggs' for
precisely £3.5m less than the Blues had paid to capture him. The phrase
'more money than sense' springs to mind! (Kelvin Barker)
1990–1993 Varese 50 (11)
1993–1994 Brescia 34 (10)
1994–1995 Venezia 18 (3)
1995–1996 Vicenza 24 (3)
1996 Brescia 9 (2)
1996–1999 Vicenza 79 (15)
1999–2003 Chelsea 16 (1)
2000–2001 Piacenza (loan) 14 (1)
2001 Vicenza (loan) 11 (1)
2001–2002 Piacenza (loan) 14 (0)
2003–2004 Piacenza 28 (1)
2004–2006 Pro Patria 41 (1)
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