Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola
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Zola to return to Chelsea?

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola is being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge.Zola scored 80 goals in 309 appearances for the Blues during his seven year spell in England, establishing himself as a legend at at the club in the process. He returned to Italy in 2003 when he joined Cagliari before returning to England to manage West Ham in 2008. He has since gone on to manage Watford, Cagliari, Al-Arabi and Birmingham City.

However, according to The Sun, he could be set to return to West London in the now vacant technical director role. That particular role was left vacant last week by the shock departure of Michael Emenalo after 10 years at the club.

He is seen as the ideal candidate to iron out the differences between Chief Executive Marina Granovskaia and team manager Antonio Conte.

Conte is thought to have grown frustrated at a lack of financial backing by the club during the summer transfer window. The Italian was looking to add a number of players to several key positions including full back, central defence, central midfield and up front, but were left scrambling on deadline day to sign Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater.

Zola has made no secret of his desire to return to Chelsea one day, saying two years ago that he dreams of managing the Blues:

“My dream, let us say my ambition, is to be Chelsea manager some day in the future.

“However, I realise that I need to improve as a manager if I want to get there. I am working hard to achieve my goal.”

However this could be a tall order for the 51-year-old considering his less than impressive managerial record. His spell at Birmingham earning him a win percentage of just 8.33% after winning two of his 24 games in charge at St Andrews.

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