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Club career -
Chelsea F.C.
In July 1995, he signed for Chelsea on a free
transfer. Initially played as sweeper by manager Glenn Hoddle with
limited success, Gullit was moved to his more familiar role in
midfield, where he scored six goals. The signing of Gullit,
alongside the likes of Mark Hughes and Dan Petrescu, propelled Chelsea to the semi-final of the FA Cup but their league form was
disappointing.
Gullit's earliest difficulty
in England was adapting to the abilities of some of his Chelsea
teammates, "I would take a difficult ball, control it, make space
and play a good ball in front of the right back, except that he
didn’t want that pass. Eventually Glenn said to me, ‘Ruud, it would
be better if you do these things in midfield’."[10] However, his
adjustment was rapid and he ended the season by being named
runner-up to Eric Cantona as Footballer of the Year.
Gullit has since often stated in interviews that it
was in London he enjoyed his career the most and felt happiest. In
moving to Chelsea, Gullit played an important part in the "foreign
revolution" as numerous high profile international stars, such as
Jürgen Klinsmann, Eric Cantona, and Dennis Bergkamp, joined
Premiership clubs and helped to increase its worldwide profile. |