Zola relishing Chelsea return

Gianfranco Zola says he is ready to help Chelsea improve following his return to the club as new manager Maurizio Sarri’s assistant first-team coach.

Zola made 311 appearances for Chelsea between 1996 and 2003, scoring 80 goals, and winning two FA Cups as well as a League Cup.

Since retiring in 2005, Zola has ventured into management, coaching the likes of West Ham United, Watford, Cagliari and, most recently, Birmingham City.

However, the Italian has decided to step back from the leading line, and become an assistant coach at his former club.

Zola says he wants to help Chelsea continue the growth they have experienced since he left the club 15 years ago.

“Well, we’re talking about a long, long time ago and, of course, the club is not the same but it seems to me as though the club is certainly going in the right direction,” Zola told the club’s official website.

“It’s certainly a much bigger club than it was when I was here, and I’m pleased about that because it means the whole place is improving. We’re here, myself and Maurizio, to help the club improve and keep growing.”

Zola has so far failed to win any major honours as a manager. His most forgettable spell as a coach came in the 2016/17 campaign when he lasted just four months as Birmingham manager, winning only two games.

The 52-year-old also revealed he never intended to go into management.

“It was never my intention [to coach],” Zola added. “When I stopped playing I didn’t know whether I was good enough to do it, and I didn’t know whether I wanted to do it, but then when I stayed a little bit out of it I realised how much I missed it and therefore went back into it.

“I realise it’s a big challenge for me personally; I feel this, I know this and I’m ready. As I said when I came many years ago as a player, I don’t know what the outcome is going to be but I will have the same attitude, to work hard and do the best I can for the cause.”

Chelsea’s Premier League campaign gets underway at Huddersfield Town on August 11, a week after their Community Shield meeting with Manchester City at Wembley.

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