Marcel DESAILLY

 If ever a signing signalled a club's statement of intent it was Chelsea's purchase of French defender Marcel Desailly in August 1998. Three cup triumphs in two seasons gave the Blues a solid platform to build upon as they set their sights on a serious tilt at the Premiership title, and the squad was significantly strengthened after that summer's World Cup with the signings of Albert Ferrer, Pierluigi Casiraghi and Brian Laudrup. However, the £4.6m purchase of Desailly from Italian giants AC Milan was the most significant, as it was perhaps the first time in the club's history that they had signed a recognised world class player who was still in his prime. Joining the club immediately after his country's triumph at the aforementioned tournament (Desailly, having played superbly throughout the competition, was sent-off in the final against Brazil), Marcel looked anything but world class on his debut as he struggled to come to terms with Coventry City's long-ball game and found himself and his team 2-0 down within 15 minutes of a game which was eventually lost 2-1. He was a quick learner, though, and 'The Rock' and his fellow defenders quickly formed an efficient unit as Chelsea remained unbeaten from the opening day of the Premiership season until the following January.

A European Super Cup triumph over Real Madrid gave Marcel his first winner's medal in a Chelsea shirt and a curling last-minute shot against FC Copenhagen in the Cup Winners Cup saved the club's then-unbeaten home European record. His first season at Stamford Bridge saw the Blues finish in third spot, thus qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, losing just three matches along the way. Indeed, but for a bizarre sequence of events which saw them lose the services of Tore Andre Flo and Gustavo Poyet through lengthy injuries, and Laudrup and Casiraghi permanently, they would almost certainly have clinched the much-cherished Premiership title at the end of the campaign. Chelsea undoubtedly saw the best and worst of Desailly the following season. Throughout a Champions League campaign that saw the Blues negotiate two group stages prior to a quarter-final exit at the hands of Barcelona, Marcel was simply impeccable, but faced with more mundane matters - such as Premiership matches against some of the top-flight's lesser lights - he was occasionally found wanting, although his only goal of the campaign came against one such club, in a 2-1 defeat of Watford. His season ended in real triumph, though, with an untroubled performance against a negative Aston Villa team as Chelsea beat the Midlands side in the last FA Cup Final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. (Kelvin Barker)

The 2000/01 season began in style for Chelsea with a return to Wembley where they beat Manchester United 2-0 in the traditional curtain-raiser to a new season, the Charity Shield. The league campaign began with a victory over West Ham but, as so often seems the case at Stamford Bridge, there were clouds on the horizon. Defeat at Bradford City was followed by three consecutive draws, the first of which saw Marcel head Chelsea's equalising goal at Aston Villa, and manager Gianluca Vialli was sacked after just five matches. His opportunities to impress new boss Claudio Ranieri were initially restricted by niggling injuries, and he was a significant absentee as Chelsea's defence twice went missing in Zurich to allow Swiss minnows St Gallen to claim a memorable scalp in the UEFA Cup. By the time the Blues' next cup clash came around - another defeat, this time at Liverpool in a League Cup tie - he was fit enough to engage in a tetchy battle with Emile Heskey which ended in the Liverpool player being red-carded, a fate which had befallen Desailly himself at Anfield a year earlier. It was a topsy-turvy campaign for Chelsea, and their entire season could be summarised in one match: a humiliating 4-2 defeat at home to Sunderland which saw an embarrassing capitulation after Marcel had headed them into an early lead.

A summer clear-out of some of the club's elder statesman saw Desailly replace the departing Dennis Wise as captain for the new campaign. He needed a new defensive partner too, as compatriot Frank Lebeouf moved on to be replaced by the majestic John Terry - emerging as Chelsea's best youth product since Ray Wilkins - and another Frenchman, 23-year-old William Gallas. A solid start saw Chelsea remain unbeaten until late-October, and included in that run was a 3-2 win at Tottenham in which Marcel headed the last-minute winner for the ten-man Blues. However, an injury suffered at the beginning of November led to a spell on the sidelines, and in his absence Terry and Gallas formed an outstanding partnership as Chelsea conceded just one goal in the first eight matches in which they were paired together. Many supporters felt the two youngsters should have been retained regardless of Marcel's return to fitness in the New Year but Ranieri thought otherwise and chose to rotate Terry and Gallas alongside Desailly for the remainder of the season, a season which ended for Marcel when he led the Blues out in the Millennium Stadium for the FA Cup Final defeat by Arsenal. (Kelvin Barker)

Marcel's ambition of playing one more Champions League campaign became a reality when Chelsea qualified for Europe's premier competition courtesy of a fourth-placed finish at the end of 2002/03. For the first time in five years the Blues were unfancied for a title challenge when the season began, but spent most of the season in the top four, and even held on to second spot for a month either side of Christmas. With a wily Italian coach at the helm it was no surprise that the success was founded on a solid defensive base - Chelsea conceded just 38 goals that season - and Desailly appeared in the back-four 31 times. The entire campaign came down to a final day shootout with Liverpool for the one remaining Champions League spot, and it was a day for unlikely heroes. Needing just a draw to qualify, Chelsea fell behind early but quickly responded, and it was Marcel who pulled Chelsea level with an athletic header from Jesper Gronkjaer's cross. It was just his second goal of the season, the other coming in a 3-0 defeat of Sunderland. Gronkjaer's low shot completed a good day's work and it was Marcel who led a new-look Chelsea side, significantly strengthened by the arrival of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, back into Champions League action at the start of the following campaign. Marcel played the first seven matches of the season but was regularly troubled by tendonitis and was rarely able to match the standards of yesteryear.

A dreadful performance in a 4-2 defeat at Charlton highlighted the difficulties Desailly was having in maintaining the required form and fitness, and he became very much third choice as the Terry/Gallas partnership continued to blossom, with Chelsea keeping a miserly 21 clean sheets from 38 Premiership matches. A tremendous performance as an early substitute for Glen Johnson against Stuttgart in the Champions League served as a reminder that the talent remained, but it was a rare glimpse of the Frenchman at his imperious best that season. He played in the first-leg of the CL quarter-final against Arsenal but, having already been booked, was sent-off for a rash challenge on Patrick Vieira, although TV replays showed that he failed to make contact with the theatrical Arsenal skipper. Suspended for the victorious second-leg, Marcel returned for the semi-final first-leg in Monaco but was again exposed by sharper, quicker opponents and angered his countrymen (and many amongst his own supporters) with his response to a red-card being shown to a home player after some play-acting by Claude Makelele. The next match proved to be his last in a Chelsea shirt, and it was a sad ending to a fine career, as he was at fault for both Newcastle goals in an unlucky 2-1 defeat. Marcel retired from international football after a disappointing Euro 2004 in which he appeared once and was immediately dropped after another erratic performance, and on his return from Portugal it was announced that he had reached an amicable settlement on the final year of his contract with Chelsea and would be leaving the club. (Kelvin Barker)