| Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri had long been an admirer of the
versatile Geremi, before an unexpected influx of Russian money gave him
the opportunity to finally get his man in the summer of 2003. Ranieri
had actually tried to sign the Cameroon international 12 months earlier,
but with the Blues struggling financially, he eventually moved to
Middlesbrough, where he impressed throughout a 12-month loan spell which
included a spectacular goal scored against Ranieri's men. Officially
still a Real Madrid player, though, it was to the Spanish club that
Chelsea paid £7, 000, 000 to secure the services of a man who was
equally adept on the right side of defence or playing as an industrious
midfielder. He made his debut as a holding midfielder in a 2-1 win at
Liverpool on the opening day of the 2003/04 season, but a week later he
was the recipient of a red card on his home debut, one of three shown by
ever-fussy official Rob Styles as Chelsea recorded another 2-1 victory,
this time against Leicester City. The following week, Geremi was
displaying his famous versatility to the Stamford Bridge crowd with an
inspirational display on the right flank, creating a goal for Adrian
Mutu as the Blues shared four goals with Blackburn, but as other
high-profile players moved to the millionaire's playground of London
SW6, it wasn't long before Geremi began to find himself on the
sidelines. In 25 league appearances throughout his first season, he
found the net just once: a spectacular long-range volley that helped
Chelsea record a 3-0 win over Portsmouth. Despite a place in new manager
Jose Mourinho's first league line-up - playing alongside both Claude
Makelele and Alexei Smertin in a competitive midfield, as the Blues
ground out a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge -
Geremi's second season with the club was effectively a write-off. Of his
13 league appearances during 2004/05, seven came from the substitute's
bench. However, having failed to feature in the starting line-up since
August, Geremi was suddenly summoned to appear at right-back in the
match at Bolton at the end of April, and was therefore a member of the
team that took the league title to Stamford Bridge for the first time in
half a century courtesy of a 2-0 victory at The Reebok Stadium. (Kelvin Barker) |
Gemeri pictured playing for Chelsea on 10th. September 2005. Photo G. Herringshaw. ©
| Having scored just once in his first two years at Chelsea, Geremi was
positively prolific during the opening weeks of the 2005/06 season,
first opening the scoring with a long-range daisy-cutter to help the
Blues finally unpick a dogged Sunderland defence, and then completing
the scoring at Liverpool as Chelsea - accused before the game of
'running scared' of the home side by Reds manager Rafael Benitez -
handed Liverpool their heaviest league defeat in 36 years. Imagine what
the score might have been had the Blues not been so fearful of their
opponents! Ultimately, though, the campaign would prove to be another
frustrating one for the ever-smiling Cameroonian. Sporadic appearances
at right-back throughout the season included an unusually tetchy
performance at West Ham, where the home side's supporters were baying
for him to be red-carded after challenges on Matthew Etherington and the
somewhat theatrical Nigel Reo-Coker; and more conventional, reliable
showings in consecutive late-season victories over the Hammers, Bolton
Wanderers and Everton, that effectively sealed back-to-back titles for
the Blues. However, after a dreadful performance in an FA Cup semi-final
defeat by Liverpool (he had suffered a similar plight in a shock 3-0
defeat at Middlesbrough a couple of months earlier), Geremi was dropped
from the side that beat Manchester United to lift the Premiership crown a
week later. With William Gallas sold, Glen Johnson shipped out to
Portsmouth on a season-long loan, and Paulo Ferreira woefully out of
form, Geremi was given the opportunity to stake a permanent claim to the
Chelsea right-back berth in 2006/07. A number of eye-catching
performances either side of Christmas - one of which was supplemented by
a magnificent strike that proved enough to beat West Ham - appeared to
have cemented his place in the team, but the unlikely emergence of
converted midfielder Lassana Diarra, and the sudden return to form of
Ferreira, left Geremi on the sidelines again. When the Blues made
history by beating Manchester United to become the first side to win the
FA Cup at the new Wembley, Geremi was not amongst the 16 selected for
action. It was therefore no surprise when news broke just weeks later
that he had accepted an offer to move back to the north-east, joining
Newcastle United. What did raise a few eyebrows was the fact that
Chelsea - again - failed to secure a fee for a talented player. (Kelvin Barker) |