Great things were expected of 17 year-old Sam Dalla Bona when he joined
Chelsea on a free transfer
from Italian club Atalanta in October 1998.
The Italian under-18 captain was so highly rated in his home
country
that the Italian FA amended the legislation regarding the sale of their
young players as a direct
result of his decision to leave for London. A
hard-working, tidy midfielder, Dalla Bona was a prolific goal
scorer for
Chelsea's youth and reserve teams and little more than a year after
signing for The Blues he
was given his debut as a second-half substitute
in a Champions League clash against Feyenoord.
He was used only
sparingly that season, making just two league appearances, but new
manager Claudio Ranieri
gave him more opportunities to shine in the
following campaign and he immediately impressed with his vision and
range of passing, his performance during a 6-1 victory over Coventry
being particularly outstanding. Sam was quiet
by nature and at times
seemed a little overawed by those around him but there was no doubting
the raw talent he
possessed. Not surprisingly he found goals a little
harder to come by at the top level but the two he did score that
season,
a low shot from the edge of the box at Everton and a run from the
halfway line followed by a neat finish
against Bradford, gave the
supporters a glimpse of what to expect in the future.
The departures of
Wise and Poyet, and the retirement of Di Matteo, gave Sam the
opportunity to stake a regular
place in the starting line-up in 2001/02
but his form was unconvincing throughout the campaign as rumours
abounded
that AC Milan were keen to sign him and that he was equally
keen to join the Italian giants. He made 24 appearances
that season,
scoring on four occasions including a spectacular injury-time winner
against Ipswich Town.
The following summer, recognising that Dalla Bona
would be able to walk out on the club twelve months later on a
free
transfer, Chelsea accepted an offer of £1 million from Milan to take the
youngster to the San Siro. (Kelvin Barker)
CLUB CAREER:
1999–2002 Chelsea 55 (6)
2002–2006 Milan 4 (0)
2003–2004 Bologna (loan) 19 (3)
2004–2005 Lecce (loan) 36 (6)
2005–2006 Sampdoria (loan) 29 (0)
2006–2011 Napoli 34 (3)
2009–2010 Iraklis (loan) 2 (0)
2010 Verona (loan) 2 (0)
2010–2011 Atalanta (loan) 0 (0)
2011–2012 Mantova 8 (0)
Total 189 games 18 goals