Zola comes back

Gianfranco Zola today spoke of his delight at being offered the chance to thank his adoring Chelsea fans after the club arranged a tribute match for the popular Italian.

Zola, recently voted by Chelsea fans as the club's greatest ever player, left Stamford Bridge last summer just before Roman Abramovich's £140 million takeover.

At the time of his sudden move to Italian side Cagliari the 38-year-old midfielder spoke of his regret at not being able to show his appreciation to Chelsea's fans after seven seasons with the club.

But now he is to be given an emotional farewell at a Zola tribute match on Sunday 8 August, a week before the Premiership season kicks off.

Zola said today: "This is a perfect occasion to say farewell to the Chelsea supporters. When I left it happened quite suddenly, I wasn't expecting it, and I've had so many fans coming over to watch the games in Cagliari it's been astonishing.

"I'm really looking forward to this game. It's something I was hoping for. I can't wait.

"What Chelsea are doing for me is fantastic because they have a very busy schedule and to find the time to organise a game like this is fantastic. I won't be able to say thank you enough. And I just can't wait to be with the fans again."

Chelsea are yet to arrange opposition for the match, which will feature all of Chelsea's new signings and will be new manager Jose Mourinho's first in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The match shows the close links between the club and the Italian player. Last year, following his return to Sardinia, Abramovich made an audacious bid to bring him back. There has even been speculation that he could take a coaching role back at Chelsea.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said: "We are absolutely delighted to be able to stage this match in tribute to Chelsea's greatest player.

"We look forward to him gracing the Stamford Bridge pitch one last time and we are certain it will be a memorable day for our fans."

Zola played 312 games for the club after joining for £ 4.5million from Parma in November 1996. He scored the only goal against Stuttgart in the European Cup Winners' Cup Final in 1998, and won two FA Cups (1997 and 2000) and the Coca-Cola Cup (1998). He was also voted Footballer of the Year in 1997.

Meanwhile, Marseille admit that Didier Drogba's move to Chelsea is now a "serious probability".

The Ivory Coast striker's future is expected to be decided in the next 48 hours with Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho determined to complete his transfer activity before the squad leaves for their pre-season tour of America on Wednesday.

Chelsea have seen a £19m bid for Drogba rejected and, although the club are unlikely to match Marseille's £26m asking price, a compromise is likely.

Chelsea's other main transfer target, Tiago, has been given the green light to complete his move to Stamford Bridge from Benfica after talks on Saturday.

Tickets for the Zola tribute match will be on sale from 9am on Wednesday, July 21, via the club's website only at www.chelseafc.com

There is an exclusive interview with Gianfranco Zola on Chelsea TV tonight, to subscribe phone 08705 800 803.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in