Chelsea icon Gianfranco Zola has revealed he would leave the club for Cagliari ‘a thousand times’ if he had to.
Zola left the Blues for the Italian side in July 2003, bringing an end to a six-year spell at Stamford Bridge following a £5.58m from Parma in January 1997.
The move to the Serie B side came as something of a surprise at the time, with Zola, who was 36-years-old, having been offered a one-year extension to his deal with Chelsea despite the arrival of Roman Abramovich’s millions.
Zola, though, insisted he would be returning to Italy to sign for Cagliari after giving them his word that he would make the move.
He ended up staying with the club for a further two years before leaving on a free transfer in 2006 and eventually retiring a year later.
And when asked about the decision to make the move and end his Blues career, he admits it was not a hard choice for him personally.
“From Chelsea to Cagliari as a player? I’d do it a thousand times, but training was a gamble,” he told Il Cagliari Live, relayed by Calcio Castedu.
“The move from Chelsea was not difficult at all, also because I arrived there with the right spirit and the right idea.
“I had a great motivation, that is to play in the team of my region, for which I cheered as a kid. I strongly wanted to do well in the club and end my career in the rossoblù.”
