Napoli and Chelsea meet in the UEFA Champions League tonight with a place in the knockout stages up for grabs.
There will be a familiar face in the Napoli dugout for Chelsea fans, as former manager Antonio Conte aims to get one over his old side.
Conte is not the only man with connections to both clubs. Here are five of the best players to have played for Napoli and Chelsea.
Gianfranco Zola
Napoli spotted the potential of Gianfranco Zola in the late eighties, agreeing a £2m deal to sign the forward from third-tier SEF Torres. Zola won the Serie A title during his debut campaign with the Italian learning from Diego Maradona in Naples.
Zola scored 36 goals in 136 games for Napoli before moving to Serie A rivals Parma. He helped I Crociati to the European Super Cup and UEFA Cup, scoring 64 goals over three-and-a-half seasons.
Chelsea came calling for Zola in November 1996, and he made an immediate impact. The Italian became the first mid-season arrival to win the FWA Footballer of the Year Award, the start of a decorated period with the club.
Gianfranco Zola’s magical goal v Norwich!
We’ll never tire of seeing this… 👌 pic.twitter.com/9vpSW7CYGB
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 6, 2018
Zola was one of several overseas stars who shone under Ruud Gullit and later Gianluca Vialli, as Chelsea claimed two FA Cups, a League Cup, the Charity Shield, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup between 1997 and 2000.
He scored 80 goals in 312 games for Chelsea and remains one of the club’s most revered figures.
Jorginho
The midfield metronome of Maurizio Sarri’s side at Napoli, Jorginho followed his former manager to Chelsea in a £57m deal in 2018. Sarri’s shift of Jorginho to a deep-lying midfield role saw the Brazil-born Italy international thrive, emerging as one of Serie A’s most influential midfielders.
Jorginho helped Chelsea – and Sarri – to Europa League success during his debut campaign and later picked up winners’ medals in the 2021 Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.
That year also saw Jorginho win the European Championship with Italy, a season of success that earned the midfielder the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award and a third-place finish in the Ballon d’Or.
He joined Arsenal after four-and-a-half seasons at Chelsea.
Gonzalo Higuain
Another player Sarri sought to reunite with at Chelsea. Higuain had built a reputation as one of Europe’s best centre-forwards, scoring 107 goals in 190 league games for Real Madrid before big-money moves – and success – in Italy.
The Argentine set a new record for goals in a Serie A season at Napoli, netting 36 times in 35 games during the 2015-16 season.
🇦🇷 Sweet as you like, HiguaÃn 🤤#UEL || #TBT pic.twitter.com/cXaQh5lyYp
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 11, 2022
He moved to Juventus in a €90m deal and won back-to-back domestic doubles in Turin, but was allowed to leave on loan for AC Milan, and Chelsea have fallen out of favour.
Higuain struggled to make his mark at Chelsea, scoring only five times in 20 games, but did claim a Europa League medal.
Kalidou Koulibaly
One of the best pieces of business Napoli have conducted this century, the Italians certainly got value in the £6.5m deal that brought in Kalidou Koulibaly from Genk.
The Senegalese centre-back made 317 appearances across eight seasons, earning four inclusions in the Serie A Team of the Year and the division’s Best Defender award in 2018-19.
After years of links to the Premier League, Koulibaly signed for Chelsea in a £33m deal in 2022. The move, arguably, came too late in his career.
He endured a difficult single season at Chelsea before being sold to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku will face his former side this evening, having had two spells at Chelsea earlier in his career.
Lukaku joined Chelsea from Anderlecht as a teenager, but departed having made just 10 league appearances. Prolific periods at Everton, Manchester United, and Inter Milan persuaded Chelsea to re-sign the striker in a club-record £97.5m deal in 2021.
The move proved to be a disaster, however, as Lukaku scored just eight league goals in 26 games and alienated the Chelsea fans with a controversial interview criticising manager Thomas Tuchel.
That summer, he was loaned back to Inter Milan, before another temporary move to Roma. He signed for Napoli for a €30m fee in 2024 and scored 14 league goals as the club won the Scudetto last season.
Read –Â Remembering Chelsea’s iconic Champions League comeback against Napoli
See more –Â Five who played for both Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle
