Ruud Gullit: Portrait of a Genius

CHAPTER TWO

Rebuilding the Bridge

It was a decision from the heart. That’s how Ruud described his reason for leaving Italy for Stamford Bridge. Money was not the motivating factor. A multi-millionaire in his own right, there were even greater fortunes on offer to ply his still considerable talents in Japan, France and Turkey. Instead he chose one last glory trail in the Premiership, pledging that his knees were no longer a problem, the rest of his body was in sublime condition and that he was ready for the physical conflict.

Gullit explained his decision at the time: ‘The choice I made was with the heart instead of the head. I wasn’t thinking about money. I was thinking as a player, not a businessman. I needed a fresh challenge as a football player and that is why I was interested in coming to England. In my eight years in Italy, I never thought I’d ever play in England. I had won everything I wanted to win in Italy and I wanted to end my career there, but things happened which changed that. I had some interesting offers, but when Glenn called me, I knew I had to take up this challenge.

‘I felt at home in England from the very first day. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I love the language, the way the people treat you, and everything else is so much similar to life in Holland. And, it’s so close to Holland. I was brought up in the city of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is cosmopolitan and so is London. I like the life of the city and for me, Chelsea is a very nice part of London.’

Gullit has always had an affinity for the English game. ‘I had the chance to come to England at the beginning of my career, but I felt I was too young. I can’t remember which club wanted me … I think it was Leeds.’ In fact Spurs, Arsenal and Ipswich were also very interested.

Gullit might even have played in the same side as Hoddle at Spurs. Peter Shreeves, the then Spurs coach and later assistant to Hoddle at the Bridge, did his best to take Gullit to White Hart Lane in 1984. Shreeves recalls: ‘One of my tasks at Spurs was to prepare a file on European opposition. When we drew Feyenoord I saw this boy playing sweeper and I thought he was just magnificent. I came back to the club and told manager Keith Burkinshaw that I had just seen one of the most exciting young players around. It just so happened that I went over to Dublin to watch Chris Hughton play for the Republic of Ireland, and there was this Dutch winger flying past him. Now, I knew how quick Chrissie was, so this player had to be pretty fast to do that. And, it turned out to be the same player I had seen as the Feyenoord sweeper.’ Spurs made a big effort to sign Gullit but Shreeves pointed out: ‘His agent didn’t think it was the right time for him to move abroad, and he was probably quite right.’

Chelsea’s quest for Gullit began early in 1995 when Hoddle was already plotting ahead to rebuild his side. He had been a long standing admirer of Gullit and was hot on his trail from the second he became aware he was available on a free transfer from Sampdoria. It was in a UEFA Cup tie back in 1984 that Hoddle first encountered Gullit in a match. It was a clash against Feyenoord where one of Hoddle’s heroes, Johan Cruyff, was coming to the end of his illustrious career. Hoddle recalls: ‘Ruud was a youngster. I was playing for Spurs when we knocked Feyenoord out of Europe. He was used as a sweeper that day and he was also in the same position when we played against PSV Eindhoven in a pre-season friendly a couple of years later. I recall his wonderful reading of the game, his passing and anticipation. Even at that age he could run the match. It made a big impression on me and, of course, I have watched and admired his career ever since.’

On Friday 19 May 1995, Hoddle made a whistle-stop tour of Italy in his quest to link up Paul Gascoigne, then unsettled at Lazio, with Gullit. The Chelsea boss flew directly from a meeting with Gazza in Rome to Milan, where he met the Dutch star. The meeting with Hoddle was one of like minds. Hoddle wanted a dominant sweeper and was shocked when he discovered that Gullit wanted precisely that role.

Hoddle recalled that first meeting. ‘I had played against him, nodded to him after matches, but had never met Ruud. That first meeting was to make contact. We talked football, and I told him where I wanted him to play and what I expected from Chelsea. We returned home without any assurances, but then I began to hear there might be a chance we could get him. I was desperate to keep it quiet, which is not easy these days.’

Chief executive Colin Hutchinson accompanied Hoddle on his Italian sojourn. Hutchinson said: ‘Our No 1 target was always Ruud Gullit but we wanted Gazza as well. In fact, I was the first person to sit down with Lazio’s Sergio Cragnotti and Dino Zoff and we agreed a fee of £4.25 million. Then we spoke to Gascoigne’s advisors Len Lazarus and Mel Stein and agreed a deal on personal terms. But the key to it was always going to be Paul himself. We always prefer to sit down with the player first, to gauge his ambitions and find out if he really wants to play for Chelsea. But this time it all happened the opposite way around.

‘Glenn and myself talked things over with Gazza over a meal. He was polite and friendly and we joked a little – especially when Gazza swallowed the crown to his tooth that he had just had fitted! But I came away from the meeting feeling that Gazza did not really want to play for Chelsea.

‘The next day we had made secret arrangements to go to Milan to see Gullit. But that morning Glenn and I saw an Italian newspaper and although neither of us know much Italian, we knew enough to read that it said Gullit was about to sign for Chelsea. We had arranged to meet him at the AC Milan offices at 4 pm but when we got there it was swarming with Press men. We met an agent there and he sent us to a nearby hotel and then on to another agent’s office. But there was still no sign of Gullit. We told them that if we didn’t see him shortly then they could forget the deal. At 5 pm we were back at the AC Milan offices and when Glenn and I walked through the door, Ruud was already there.

‘I asked, “Who are we negotiating with?”, meaning agents and he replied, “Just me.” I thought that was a refreshing change. In that meeting we spoke about nothing but football, no money was even discussed, unlike with Gazza. His enthusiasm for the game came over and all he wanted to know was about Chelsea, how Glenn wanted the side to play and how Glenn wanted him to play. He asked for time to think it over and a few days later rang Glenn to say he wanted to talk further. We flew to Milan in secret a week later and had a two-hour meeting where we discussed terms and made him our best offer.

‘We knew we were certainly not making him the best financial offer. Ruud could have gone to Japan and earned £3 million a year. But he was interested in the football side rather than the money. And our biggest advantage was that he got on so well with Glenn. There was a mutual respect there. So, even though we knew he could earn a lot more money elsewhere, we always felt fairly confident of signing him.’

Gascoigne, meanwhile, had not made up his mind where to go after Italy. Gazza said: ‘I have spoken to Chelsea, Aston Villa and Glasgow Rangers. I’ve heard rumours about Leeds and I think I will speak to them next week.’ He eventually opted to switch to Scottish football, accepting a mega-offer from wealthy Rangers.

With Gullit available on a free transfer, there were clubs all around the world interested in his signature. Bryan Robson and Ray Wilkins entered the battle with their old England pal Hoddle. Wilkins said: ‘Don’t believe all this clap-trap that he is over the hill. Gullit is a very fit man. I had the privilege of playing against him for AC Milan when he was with PSV Eindhoven. Ironically, when he arrived at AC Milan, he took my place!’ Gullit’s preference to return to the sweeper role he made famous at the start of his career did not bother Wilkins: ‘I don’t care where he plays, he can even have a turn out in goal if he likes, I just want him here at this club.’

Hoddle knew Gazza was Glasgow Rangers bound, which made him all the more determined to land Gullit, particularly as Graeme Souness, then the newly installed manager of Turkish side Galatasaray, moved in for Gullit, with an offer on the table of £1 million-a-year in wages.

But Gullit turned his back on all of these offers, with the moment the whole of Chelsea had been waiting for coming on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May 1995. Colin Hutchinson recalls: ‘I was just settling down to watch the Bolton-Reading play-off final, when Ruud called. By the time we had finished talking, Reading were 2–0 up and Gullit had agreed to sign. One of the reasons behind his decision, he said, was that Chelsea played in white socks – and he had always won things playing for teams who wore white socks!

‘Glenn was halfway across the Atlantic at the time, on his way to Florida for a holiday. I had to ring his hotel and leave a coded message for him saying, ‘The man from Italy has said, yes’. He was delighted.’

Hoddle left the final details to Hutchinson. ‘The second time we went over, the deal was done,’ says Hoddle. ‘We discovered Ruud wanted to play in English football and he wanted to play for Chelsea. Every side needs someone like Ruud Gullit, a player who can win a game with one pass, a player who is a cut above the rest and a player who can hurt the opposition by doing what comes naturally.’

Hutchinson made one of the most fruitful, exciting and profitable journeys of his life when he travelled to Milan to complete the deal for Gullit on Tuesday, 30 May 1995. He said: ‘I flew out to Genoa to meet Gullit’s lawyer and draft the contract. The following day I met up with the lawyer and Ruud once again. Within ten minutes he had said ‘yes’. I had just completed arguably the biggest deal ever done in British football. I took out my camera and asked the lawyer to take a picture of me with Ruud to capture the moment. We went out for lunch and while we were eating an agent rang Ruud on his mobile phone and said that Tottenham and QPR were interested in signing him. I had a smile to myself because I already had his signature.

‘Then I flew home via Frankfurt. At Frankfurt airport I sat next to a Leyton Orient fan and we got talking and he asked me what I did. I told him and said I had just signed Gullit for Chelsea. Then two English bricklayers came and sat by us and one was saying how he had just telephoned a friend to pick him up at the airport. He said his mate was an Arsenal fan and was winding him up that Chelsea had signed Ruud Gullit. And the Orient fan turned to him and said, “That’s no wind-up – and here’s the man who has done the deal”. I just sat there grinning and feeling absolutely fantastic.’

Chelsea had successfully fought off counter-bids from Galatasaray, Bayern Munich, the club Jurgen Klinsmann joined from Spurs, Hoddle’s former French club Monaco, and Gullit’s old club Feyenoord, plus a number of Japanese teams which offered him a fortune, notably Yokohama Flugels.

Diplomatically Gullit would not divulge why he rejected the other offers. He explained: ‘I enjoy life every day and I never take decisions for a long period. I always follow my instinct, which has rarely misled me. My old club Feyenoord would have liked to have me back. But the city of London appealed more to me than the port of Rotterdam. But the real reason for not joining Feyenoord, Galatasaray or any of the other clubs who knocked on my door this summer, I will not tell. Whatever I say will be wrong in the fans’ eyes and in the opinion of people who play for those clubs. As soon as Chelsea turned up on my doorstep and I had met Glenn Hoddle, I knew I wanted to go an play at Stamford Bridge.’

Chelsea knew that gates would soar and commercial spinoffs would follow. Hutchinson said: ‘We wanted a player who would put bums on seats and we have certainly got that. And, remember, he has not cost us a single penny in terms of a transfer fee.’ In London, Gullit mania was instant. Hutchinson said: ‘On the day of the announcement, the reaction from the fans was incredible. The switchboard at Stamford Bridge was jammed, there was a queue of thirty-five people at the club’s shop that morning when it opened. People wanted to buy shirts and have Gullit’s name put on them. Requests for membership forms and season tickets are coming in thick and fast so his magic is already working.’

The Chelsea players, much the same as their fans, were staggered by the signing of Gullit. Scott Minto was sunning himself in Gran Canaria, when he caught up with the news. ‘A couple of days before we actually signed him, a few people had been coming up to us and talking about it, saying we were going to get him. We had read a few things in the papers but it sounded a bit ridiculous and we didn’t take much notice of it at the time. Then I rang home and my mum said: “Did you know they’ve just signed Ruud Gullit?” Because she doesn’t know anything about the game or who he is, I knew she wasn’t making it up. Then someone else rang home to check and we found out it was true. It took a little while to sink in but we all thought it was brilliant.’

When Chelsea club captain and England international Dennis Wise escaped a three-month jail sentence on 2 June, he talked about his relief that he will be teaming up with Gullit rather than starting the season in jail. A judge overturned his convictions for attacking a taxi driver and damaging his cab. Wise said later: ‘I want to put it all behind me and get on with the rest of my career. I am happy and am going on holiday fairly shortly. I will be all right for the beginning of the season, when we’ve got Ruud Gullit to look forward to.’

Brian Glanville devoted his Sunday People column to Chelsea’s new player. He wrote: ‘Ruud Gullit’s signing for Chelsea is a tremendous coup for the Stamford Bridge club. Even today, at the age of 32, after all those fearful operations on his right knee, Gullit is among the few great players in the world. Fans will come to see him. There’s no doubt at all about his ability to play as sweeper as he demonstrated in his early years with Feyenoord. It’s really just a question of whether the Chelsea team will be able to adjust to the somewhat unfamiliar tactics … He shouldn’t find it too hard to work with Hoddle, and the younger Chelsea players will surely learn from him. Let’s just hope he stays longer in London than Jurgen Klinsmann.’

The boardroom split between chairman Ken Bates and the late co-director Matthew Harding even managed to involve Gullit. Bates pointed out that he authorised the acquisition of Gullit without Harding’s millions to back him up. Bates said: ‘We proved what a solid financial concern Chelsea is with the signing of Ruud Gullit, one of the biggest names in world soccer. It was all financed from within the club’s budget, without having to ask Matthew Harding or anyone else for a single penny.’

In the first week of June, Gullit fulfilled his final commitments with Sampdoria on a tour of Hong Kong and China, a popular destination for many leading clubs in the summer. It also enabled Gullit to combine the football with four days of highly lucrative promotional work in Japan. Back in London, Ken Bates was airing his plans for a floatation of Chelsea. With the signing of Gullit on a reputed £16, 000 a week, Mr Bates joked: ‘We need a flotation to help pay his wages!’

The Dutch revolution in English football continued when Dennis Bergkamp signed for Arsenal. Bergkamp became hooked on Spurs, and in particular their midfield maestro Glenn Hoddle, from the moment he saw them on Dutch television as a five-year-old. Bergkamp revealed: ‘I had only one idol when I was young and that was Glenn Hoddle. My family went on holiday to England one year and we visited White Hart Lane. My dad bought me a Spurs strip and a mug with the crest on it. Every year after that I would get a new Spurs strip and it always had to have Glenn’s number on it. He was the reason I supported them. He was such a wonderful player. When I played football with my mates out on the street it would always be an FA Cup Final with Tottenham in it and I, of course, would be Hoddle. I still have a soft spot for them and look for their results every week.’

On Thursday, 22 June, Gullit arrived in London, jet lagged from his worldwide travels. The formalities of his Chelsea signing were completed, including the routine medical which he passed with ease. The next day he breezed into the Bridge at precisely 11:04 am to a barrage of cameras in Drakes restaurant, which snuggles neatly inside the new £5 million stand.

A year earlier Jurgen Klinsmann had re-launched his career and re-established his worldwide reputation in English football. Gullit arrived with the same steely-eyed approach. He said: ‘I’m hungry for this new challenge. My ambitions at first are quite simple, they are to get along with the lads and adapt to my new environment, a different lifestyle, different customs, a different way of life. I’m not thinking about any end result yet. I am very satisfied that I have done the right thing. My knee problems are a thing of the past. I know there were plenty of rumours about my knees last year but I feel frustrated that I couldn’t prove them wrong with Sampdoria. All those problems are in the past. Milan said I couldn’t play three matches in a week. But they never gave me the chance. Right now, I have never felt fitter.’

Gullit is synonymous with extravagant goals but revealed he never had any intention of playing attacking roles. He said: ‘When I got to Milan, the coach, Saachi, wanted me to play as a striker. He just told me, “Go out there and just do your best”. But it’s not natural for me, and it’s not somewhere I prefer to play, although I learnt a lot from doing it. I don’t have a striker’s instincts. A true striker kills every ball and wants to score every time. Sometimes I’m sloppy and try to do too much and miss the chance. A true striker has to be egocentric.’

From the moment Gullit arrived he charmed his audience in his typical relaxed mood. He never even faltered when he mistook Wimbledon for Wembley! Asked what he thought about the prospects of playing at Wimbledon he said: ‘I’m looking forward to it, it’s one of the most important stadiums in the world.’ When his error was pointed out by Hoddle, who was sitting next to him, he laughed loudly at himself and said: ‘Perhaps I should talk about tennis as well!’

Gullit answered every conceivable question, no matter how obscure or personal. It was hard to know whether to take him seriously or not when he gave a bizarre reason for why he chose Chelsea – the reason being that he’d always won things playing for teams who wore white socks! Finally, he politely paraded in a No 4 Chelsea shirt on the pitch where there were a succession of television interviews. He said: ‘I had the choice between the number 4 and number 14 shirts. It’s strange to see players wearing 18 or 19 because I don’t think the public can identify with them, or know where they’re really supposed to be playing. I prefer numbers that correspond with a player’s position.’

There was also a first in Gullit’s big unveiling to the Chelsea fans. Never before had one of Gullit’s media introductions been sidetracked somewhat by the shock announcement of the signing of another player, Mark Hughes from Manchester United. But it was the surprise factor, more than anything else, that had the media contingent gasping.

Colin Hutchinson made the Hughes announcement just as Gullit was concluding his radio interviews. The Dutchman was immediately effusive. ‘I’m delighted Hughes is coming,’ he said. ‘I think he’s a great player. I know all about him, I played against him when he was at Barcelona. I knew that Glenn Hoddle wanted to sign him from the very start … but I can keep a secret!’

I suggested to Hoddle that Hughes and Gullit, both into their thirties, are truly Chelsea pensioners. The Chelsea boss smiled and said: ‘Both these guys are fit lads who have the right habits and attitudes. I found out myself, when I hung up my boots at the age of 37 going on 38, that people tell me it’s too early. It’s about quality, not about age, and these two guys certainly have the right pedigree. Perhaps I’d better sign a few fifteen year olds to balance it up!’

In fact, Hoddle believed that the capture of Gullit was a watershed in Chelsea’s fortunes and helped to recruit Hughes. ‘When you sign somebody like Ruud Gullit after all that he’s achieved, it is sending out the right signals, to our own supporters first and to his team-mates. It says that people here are trying to build something, that they are serious. It says that we want to be one of the leading sides, that we want to win something. I’ve been here for two years and we’ve come close. But I’m not into transfer coups, I’m into trying to win trophies.’

In the light of the British record of £8.5 million splashed out on Stan Collymore, £6 millionon Les Ferdinand, no spring chicken himself, and £4.5 million on Chris Armstrong, the capture of Hughes was an absolute steal. Hoddle said: ‘Compared to the fees that are knocking around at the moment, it makes an awful lot of economic sense to sign Gullit on a free transfer and Hughes at the end of his contract for £1.5 million.’

The arrival of the two players was extremely well received by the media. Neil Harman, Daily Mail Football Correspondent, wrote: ‘Not a dreadlock on his head turned when the Ruud Gullit interview was interrupted by news that Chelsea had signed Mark Hughes. His thunder might have been temporarily stolen but, in the best tradition of a world superstar, his stride-pattern remained unaffected.