Poor, hopeless Chris Sutton. Following Blackburn's relegation in 1999, Chelsea snapped up the English striker for what was then a startling £10 million fee in the hope of him firing them to the top of the table following their impressive third place finish the year before. With Didier Deschamps signed to bring experience and brains to the Blues midfield, the stage was set for Sutton to take his place at the front of a team with title aspirations. Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned. Sutton's first game saw him stumble twice when clean through on goal in an otherwise comfortable 4-0 victory over Sunderland. He opened his account for Chelsea in their Champions League qualifier against Skonto Riga, at which point fans expected the floodgates to open. In fact, there was barely a raindrop. He scored a lovely header in a 5-0 trouncing of Manchester United, which proved to be his only league goal for the club, and later in the FA Cup against Hull City. With club legend Gianfranco Zola also struggling to find the net despite providing plenty of assists, the club picked up George Weah on loan from Milan, whom Sutton briefly partnered up front to no avail on his end. The situation became so desperate that manager Gianluca Vialli even resorted to trying out Sutton at centre back a few times to take advantage of his aerial presence. Ultimately, the story had a happy ending for Sutton at least, who was sold to Celtic for £6 million at the end of a season in which Chelsea finished a disappointing fifth. He rediscovered his form in Glasgow, scoring an impressive 63 goals in 137 appearances. As for Chelsea, they lost £4 million on a player whom they unwisely signed at (then) massive expense even though he had disappointed the preceding season. Did they learn their lesson? Did they f...
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
