10 Players Who Stole A Living From Chelsea

4. Pierluigi Casiraghi

It feels rather harsh to include Casiraghi on this list, whose brief time in a Blues shirt was blighted with just about the worst luck any player can endure. He signed with Chelsea in 1998 from Sven-Goran Eriksson's Lazio for a fee of £5.4 million, then a notable outlay for a Blues side yet to be flush with Russian cash. Good things were expected from the experienced Italian international, but despite working tirelessly, goals refused to come him way. He finally broke his barren spell in October, scoring the Blues' only goal in a draw at Anfield. While a nicely taken strike, with Casiraghi beautifully controlling a high ball over the top of the Liverpool defence to take it past the keeper to score, the goal is mostly remembered for Phil Babb's last-ditch attempt to block resulting in him colliding at high speed with the goalpost between his legs. If Casiraghi thought his fortunes had turned around, he sadly couldn't have been more wrong. A collision the following month with West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop resulted in a severe cruciate ligament injury which ultimately proved irreparable. Following 10 operations, the Italian admitted defeat in his battle to save his career and retired when his Chelsea contract was terminated in 2002. Despite only appearing 10 times for the Blues, Casiraghi expressed his anger at the club's hierarchy for not checking in on him while he was hospitalised. Though understandable that he wouldn't want to feel neglected while fighting for a chance of getting back on the field in a Chelsea shirt, such a reaction felt a little ungrateful considering the club paid his wages for a full four years despite only getting ten games and a solitary goal as recompense. Casiraghi is remembered as the most unfortunate entry in Chelsea's pantheon of failed strikers however, more a victim of terrible fortune than the greed or lack of talent which blighted the careers of his compatriots on the long list.