We have previously focused on the thrilling summer of ’96 and the tragic death of Matthew Harding. Now we recount Zola's signing - 30 years ago this month - through our archive of first-hand interviews, with words from the very people who had the privilege of witnessing a truly great Premier League import up close.

Chelsea's 1996/97 campaign had got off to a decent start under Ruud Gullit's management. Six wins, four draws, and only two defeats suggested the Blues were becoming harder to beat, and perhaps even consistent enough to start challenging at the very top of the table.

The signs were good, and things were about to get even better, as Chelsea's club historian, Rick Glanvill, recalls.

Glanvill: ‘The Chelsea of 96/97 had Di Matteo dominating midfield and Leboeuf spraying the ball from the back. You had Frode Grodas, the Norwegian goalkeeper who'd come in on a free, who was pretty solid and unspectacular.

'You had Mark Hughes and Gianluca Vialli up front. You had Dennis Wise. I've never seen a player adapt so well over the course of his career to all the different circumstances, and he really was the ringmaster. So you had a really good spine. But what it needed was a maestro, and actually, that's what we got.’

Zola made his name at Napoli in Serie A, first as Diego Maradona's understudy, and later his successor. It was quite a schooling for Zola. The man many consider the greatest player of all time took the Italian under his wing, helping him make the most of his exceptional skill despite his lack of height, teaching him set-piece techniques and, on one occasion, even letting him start in his beloved No.10 shirt.

‘It was the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine,’ Zola later said. In '93, Zola left for Parma and helped a star-studded team reach the Cup Winners' Cup final a year later, and then win the UEFA Cup in '95. Gianluca Vialli was on the losing Juventus side, while Zola was named in the inaugural European Team of the Year.

Though his goal-to-game ratio at Parma was excellent, and earned him a place in Italy's Euro '96 team – where he famously had a penalty saved in the final group game against Germany, which stopped the Azzurri advancing to the knockout stage – he wasn't chosen to lead the attack by incoming Parma manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The future Chelsea boss preferred a 4-4-2 formation, with new signings Hernan Crespo and Enrico Chiesa up front. Zola was shunted out to the wing.

The situation reached a boiling point when Mario Stanic, another future Blue then at Club Bruges, was pictured in the stands at a game, expected to sign imminently and take Zola's place in the team.

It paved the way for his move to London, and it provided everyone at the club with a much-needed pick-me-up a fortnight or so after Matthew Harding's tragic death.

Zola: ‘I certainly came with a lot of willingness to do well. I knew I was going through a difficult moment in Parma, and I came here with a determination to do good, and to prove that it was just a bad spell of my career.

'I was really lucky to find a fantastic atmosphere at the club. My team-mates were unbelievable. Plus the crowd, from the first day was fantastic, really. They made my life very easy. All that came on the pitch was a consequence of what I found outside it.’

‘I think it was a mistake,’ Ancelotti later admitted. ‘It was my first experience in Serie A, and I was not able to change the system. He probably would not have gone to Chelsea if I had done.’ Thank goodness Ancelotti didn't.

Chelsea had declined to sign Zola for £10 million a year earlier, but the Bosman ruling meant his value was depreciating day by day, and so player-manager Ruud Gullit and the club jumped at the chance to acquire his services for £4.5m, as then-managing director Colin Hutchinson recalled.

Hutchinson: ‘I'd been on his trail for 18 months. Glenn [Hoddle] loved him. He didn't have an agent. He was represented by a solicitor, and I built up a good relationship with him. I got wind from Parma that he was available, and two agents representing Parma came to England.

‘They visited Tottenham. They visited Chelsea. I discussed a deal with them over two days. They couldn't finalise it because it was down to the president. I'd made contact by then with the guy who I already knew, his lawyer. And that night I flew to Parma, met the president that evening, and thrashed out a deal.

‘The next morning I met Zola and his representative. We had four hours of talks. He was obviously, for the sake of his family, a little bit concerned about upping sticks and moving to England, but by late in the afternoon, he signed the deal before Tottenham ever got out of the starting blocks.’

Italian TV were the first to break the news on the Friday afternoon, before terms were officially agreed between the clubs. The signing was completed later that day, the night of 8 November 1996.

Zola was introduced to the British public on the Monday at a well-attended Stamford Bridge press conference. He spoke basic English, but he could explain why he had decided to move to Stamford Bridge.

‘Because Chelsea believes in me,’ he said. He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal worth a reported £25,000 a week.

Zola: ‘The impression was good because when I came over here, Di Matteo and Luca Vialli were already playing for Chelsea, so they informed me about the situation. They spoke very highly about the club.

‘Obviously, it was quite different from Italy. In those days, Italy was huge on football, so there were little differences. In Italy, everything was taken to an extreme. The preparation was to an extreme. All the aspects of the game, they were all very much looked after. In my opinion, too much. I believe it was losing the fun part of it.

‘At the end of the day, for footballers – no matter how big you are or how much you earn – what is important for them is to have fun for what they're doing. At least that was what I was feeling. In that moment in Italy, the game was so big, so important, so high level that it was losing something.’

Zola's arrival prompted some speculation that Mark Hughes might leave, with the futures of other attack-minded players John Spencer, Mark Stein and Gavin Peacock also thrown into the air.

Spencer left for QPR for £2.5m ten days after Zola's arrival, with Stein and Peacock soon leaving on loan to Stoke and QPR respectively.

Gullit: ‘I was trying to look for something that would suit my team. We had this good opportunity to get Zola, and that was the icing on the cake. I didn't have to think about it. When this opportunity came, I said immediately: "Yes, get this man," because I knew how good he was.’

And so, very quickly, did his new teammates. Zola instantly shone in training, including in a game against the reserves a couple of days before his Chelsea debut at Blackburn Rovers. They were archetypal Premiership opponent in those days.

Zola: ‘It was difficult for me. I was playing in midfield, and I couldn't get the ball, actually! It was always flying above my head. That was very unusual, because the game was very fast, and obviously very physical. What I remember is that I felt good, but I couldn't get the ball enough in order to make a difference.

‘It was still a moment in which I was understanding how the game was, and it was very useful. There is a great picture (below) that I still have in my house. It says: "Welcome to the English game, Zola." And you can see me upside down. You see the feet where my head should be, and the head where the feet should be!’

He got an assist for Gianluca Vialli on his home debut against high-flying Newcastle United, a 1-1 draw, and their manager, Kevin Keegan, remarked afterwards that Zola was a bundle of tricks and a tremendous addition to the Premier League.

He scored his first goal in his next game at Stamford Bridge, against Everton, with a free-kick Blues fans would quickly learn was his trademark.

Zola: ‘I remember free-kicks were something that I practised a lot, and it was a good goal.’

It was the first of 14 free-kicks Zola netted for Chelsea. But it wasn't all rosy. Three draws and two defeats in the five games after Zola's arrival had some questioning the value of his signing. Was the league too quick and physical for him? At just 5ft 6in, would he struggle to impact games? Was he, as some speculated, just another foreign mercenary looking to pick up a final pay packet in the increasingly wealthy Premier League?

In 10 seconds of football, Zola answered any lingering doubts surrounding his effectiveness. West Ham United were the last visitors to Stamford Bridge before Christmas, when Zola twisted and turned their hardman defender Julian Dicks inside and out before firing into the net. It was an awe-inspiring goal that showed Zola could deliver in the Premier League.

Zola: ‘I remember we played very well. Not only the goal – it was a good goal and there were some good goals from also the other players – but we played a good game and the partnership was working very well. From that moment, I believe Ruud didn’t change anymore.

‘It was good for me as well because in that game, I really played well. I felt like everything that came to my mind, I was able to do. Although I didn’t realise how dangerous it was to do what I did to Julian!’

‘Everybody loves him,’ said Gullit afterwards. ‘I think he stole their hearts, and I'm very happy for him. He already played very well in a couple of games, but he was frustrated by the fact that we couldn't win. Now he’s very happy, he’s doing well and it’s also a good thing for the Premier League.’

That day was not only significant for the dazzling solo goal Zola scored. It was also when his partnership with Mark Hughes up front was born. Vialli was injured, so Zola moved forward from the position where he began his Chelsea career, in midfield.

Zola: ‘Ruud said that probably midfield was the best position for me because he was afraid that playing me up front, I couldn't get any space, plus I would be under strict and close marking. He said: ‘Probably they will hit you, they will kick you, you’re not going to find space, so I prefer to play you in midfield.’

‘Then Luca got injured, so he had to play me up front, and we found this perfect partnership with Mark. From that moment, the team started to get results with consistency, and it didn’t change anymore.’

‘Mark was really important to me because he made my game easy. He all the time was creating space for me and for the others.

'When you have somebody like him up front, it becomes easy. He's one of those players that they can play in different generations, and they're going to be up to date all the time. They are so intelligent, so strong, determined, that they're always useful.’

Glanvill: ‘Partnerships are so underrated in football, and you could immediately see that Mark Hughes thought: “My goodness, what have I got next to me now?”’

Hughes: ‘Franco was a joy to play with. He's one of the special players of that era. It was a good mix. I was there to be a little bit of a battering ram, and I would say with smaller stature players, they have to be really exceptional to make an impact at the highest level. That's why Franco was so good: he was able to affect almost every game he played in.

‘I played a part, maybe, bashing holes in the defence. He used to exploit that, but you've still got to be good enough to recognise situations if they present themselves. It was easy to play with Franco.

‘He was an easy target, because it was more aggressive in those days. It was refereed in a different way. There was more leniency, and you had the opportunity to stop good teams playing by being aggressive.

'That’s what teams used to try and do, but he was a strong little guy. He was always in the gym, and in fairness, when he was stripped off, he was cut, so he'd worked hard. You could see he'd been in the gym to try and make himself stronger. So good guy, great pro, great player.’

Gullit: ‘I had a conflict of who was going to be playing because I had Gianluca there and I had Mark Hughes. He was vital for us. It worked straight away. I knew exactly the formation because Mark Hughes was the one who was strong, could hold the ball, and Zola could play around him. He could do all the things he needed to do.

‘They were great. It was just the partnership you always look for in a team. One very unselfish player who could block the ball, hold the ball for the rest to become better. Then the other player who has his fantasy and also has his ability to score incredible goals.’

Zola was soon completely settled, even if there were some things he would never quite get used to.

Zola: ‘It was unusual to spend Christmas playing football because normally you have a break during that time. But I enjoyed it, I really enjoyed it. Although I didn't enjoy the party when I went to a disco with my team-mates, and Grodas nearly killed me because I wasn't drinking a huge bottle of vodka!

‘That first year was something really special. I found the perfect atmosphere to play well and also to behave well. I liked the mentality, I liked the philosophy of the people, of the way they play the game and the way they support the game. I was in perfect symphony with them.

‘I found the perfect environment for me. The way I see football is the same as people live and see football over here. So I didn't have to change at all. I just had to relax and play my best football as I always thought it should be.’

It was not just Zola's extraordinary ability that Blues fans, and indeed supporters of other clubs, were warming to. His personality was starting to shine through. The commentator Martin Tyler remembers his career and what it was like dealing with him from a journalist's perspective.

Tyler: ‘Well, what a signing. What a wonderful guy, which we didn’t really know at the time. He had class on the pitch, and charm off it.

‘Suddenly this was becoming, from the media point of view, a different dynamic really, dealing with players whose English wasn't their first language. Could he speak English? Will we get anything? Would he do anything?

‘He'd come out of Sardinia, where I think he'd learned to stand his ground, and being in the Maradona world as well, at Napoli, so we knew about him. Maradona was a bit chunkier than Franco, but you can't play at that level in that kind of environment without having some resilience as well as wonderful skill.

‘He was absolutely charming as a guy, which I think probably helped. He was so modest about doing the most sublime things on the field, and just a joy to be around.’

Zola's honesty and humility are two of the most fondly recalled characteristics. His dedication also burns bright in the memories of those who had the good fortune of playing with him or watching him firsthand. A very young John Terry was one such man.

Terry: ‘When he came in, he was such a big name in the world of football, and he really took to the younger players. I was 16 at the time doing my YTS, but he had so much time for everyone around the football club, including the younger players, wanting to help us, wanting to always advise us.

‘His professionalism was amazing, just watching the way he prepared for training, after training, for games. As a kid, I used to have to be in at half seven, eight o'clock. He'd come in at eight o'clock most mornings, do gym and strength work, which back then was kind of unheard of. He was way ahead of his time in that way.

‘We’d pick his brains and ask him questions: “Well, what are you doing? Why are you doing it?" He formed a little head tennis court in the gym. He got the tape out, with this little ball, and he used to beat us all every morning.

‘He took care in everything. He didn't accept people not working hard, not trying. When you've got players like that around as well, it naturally brings the group and the intensity up – and the quality for sure.

‘After training he'd grab a bag of balls, and he'd do one-on-ones. He'd call you over as a young defender, run at you and twist and turn and have you in tangles. What a learning curve. He would step in and say: "Right, you need to position your body this way to make it more difficult for the striker."

‘He was always advising, always practising his free-kicks. Over the years we've seen so many go in the top corner. As a young player you’d be sitting in the stands, and every time he got a free-kick outside the box, you fancied him to score. It wasn’t because he would randomly get one in. It’s because he worked hard and practised on it. That was a great lesson and example for all of us.

‘It was a nightmare training against him because he could do everything. He could drop off, he could play behind. Play in that little hole, twist and turn, but he was quick over five, ten yards, probably one of the quickest at the club. He worked on his explosiveness. He could win headers. And his natural football ability was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

‘As a centre-half, did you go tight? He had the quality and the brain to spin and go in behind, and the acceleration to pull away as well. He gave us so many great memories, and what a real true legend at the football club.

‘He always had time for the fans after games, and always stressed to us younger players to make sure you always give time to the supporters because one day they’ll really want your autograph. Little things like that will stick with me forever.’

Defender Frank Sinclair and fitness coach Ade Mafe remember what it was like working with him.

Mafe: ‘He came in and was hardworking. He would always stay after training and do his free-kicks. He bought himself one of the first portable free-kick walls I'd ever seen. He would always come out after training and be practising and be practising and be practising.

‘He was very big into stretching, yoga. He was very big into strength training. He would challenge me to 10-metre runs from starts. He was a complete professional, a physically great specimen. His dedication to his training and the dedication to his football are the reasons why he reaped the rewards of actually playing.’

Sinclair: ‘He improved me. He was one of the first players that I saw with my own eyes staying on the training pitch and working at stuff. Regardless of how good he was, he wanted to improve.

‘I stayed out a lot with him because we used to do drills, just me and him, where he'd be attacking me defending and just have a goalkeeper in there, and he was just trying to get half a yard to get shots off, and he liked doing it with me obviously because of my physical attributes and my pace would make it difficult for him to do that.

‘We spent many hours on the training pitch after sessions had finished just working on stuff like that through my career, which I believe improved me as a defender as well.’

That was an opinion Steve Clarke, a fellow defender, shared.

Clarke: ‘Training was always difficult because you couldn't kick him because you knew you needed him on the Saturday! He made you a better defender because he kept you on your toes all the time in training, and his performances when he came to us that season were absolutely outstanding, and he probably just upped the ante at the club a little bit.

‘The club brought even more quality into the group and helped to make us as successful as we were. Tremendous man, very humble, a great person first and foremost, and then on top of that, he's an absolutely gifted footballer. To work day in, day out with Gianfranco was just a privilege.’

Dan Petrescu, another key member of Chelsea’s cosmopolitan squad, rated him extremely highly.

Petrescu: ‘He made a big impact. I remember the goal against Everton he scored, and all the fans were thinking: "God, who is this guy?" And the professionalism he brought to the club as well because the young players could see Zola at the training ground, and we saw Zola at the training ground, the way he trained. He stayed after training; he stayed in the gym. Zola was a great player; maybe the greatest I played with.’

By the end of his first full month in English football, Zola's hard work on and off the pitch was well and truly paying off. He netted a Boxing Day brace at Aston Villa and followed it two days later with another strike, this one against Sheffield Wednesday. That meant he finished December with five goals, so it was no surprise when he was subsequently voted the Premiership's Player of the Month.

The memorable moments kept on coming. Late in January '97, Zola brilliantly equalised in the epic FA Cup fourth round game against Liverpool that will be covered in the next long read on our 1996/97 campaign. That goal displayed the venom with which he could hit a football as well as the outstanding ability of his supposedly weaker left foot.

An even more special strike followed a few weeks later, two minutes into the home fixture against Manchester United. Taking a Dan Petrescu pass in the inside right channel, Zola cut inside Denis Irwin, who was left to slide off the pitch towards the redeveloping Shed End. Another grizzled top-flight defender, Gary Pallister, now stood between Zola and the goal. Two touches and a drop of the shoulder later, and Zola had glided past him into a central position on the cusp of the six-yard box.

He shot early and low on his left. The considerable frame of Peter Schmeichel didn't even move. It was a goal that perhaps more than any other Zola scored epitomised the innumerable qualities he possessed: the touch, the skill, the awareness, the bravery in taking on players much bigger than him, the adeptness with both feet, the finishing ability, the confidence.

Blues fans would never grow tired of watching him, including season ticket holder and renowned DJ Trevor Nelson.

Nelson: ‘I thought [Glenn] Hoddle was good. I thought Ruud [Gullit] was good. I knew Zola was good, but I couldn’t believe what we got. He was the spark to everything we did. You just wanted to get the ball to Zola. Something magical would happen. We felt like he was a genius.’

Alex Ferguson was a long-term fan of Zola's. The striker proved a constant thorn in the Manchester United defence from the moment he scored that sensational goal two minutes into his first ever game against them.

‘He annoyed me,’ Ferguson said a decade later. ‘He was one of those players who was unperturbed about who he was playing against. You always saw a smile on his face, and that annoyed me. I said: “How can he be enjoying himself playing against United? Nobody else does.”’

The benefit on those around Zola was increasingly evident.

Glanvill: ‘You have a team where all the different parts are working quite well, but it takes one element that's added and everything is raised completely, and that's what you found when Gianfranco Zola came in.

‘All of a sudden, Dan Petrescu felt much more important in the way things were working. You'd see players like an Eddie Newton, for example, would do his typical Eddie spin, give the ball to Franco, and then magic would happen. You just saw the whole team grow to meet the excellence of Zola.’

Such was Zola and Hughes' form up front, Gianluca Vialli was not able to win his place back in 96/97. Vialli had honestly admitted that Zola made him look ordinary.

‘Of all the Italian players to come here, I have the feeling he will be the best,’ Vialli said when Zola joined. He wasn't wrong.

Indeed, such was Zola's impact in his first season that at its end he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. He received the award from Stanley Matthews, the inaugural winner half a century earlier, a couple of days before the FA Cup final.

Zola: ‘We didn't have anything like that in Italy. When I was awarded it, I was over the moon. It was so many famous players and talented players that came before me, and I was so happy to receive it from Mr Stanley Matthews. It was something special really. It was one of those moments that you will remember forever.’

Glanvill: ‘He wasn't just a brilliant player for Chelsea. He was the best player in the Premier League, and it had been so long since you could say that about a Chelsea player. Really, you're almost going back to Ray Wilkins being the best in the top flight. That's how much he elevated Chelsea, that all of a sudden people liked our club because Zola played for us, and they loved Zola.’

Six years after the '97 Cup final win, Zola left Chelsea to join Cagliari in his native Sardinia. In total, he made 312 appearances for the club, scoring 80 goals, so many of them unforgettable. He picked up winner's medals in the FA Cup twice, the Cup Winners' Cup, when he scored the only goal in the final in Stockholm, the League Cup, and the Super Cup.

Zola's exceptional ability on the pitch and his wonderful personality off it mean there's no question he will forever go down as one of the greatest ever players to pull on the blue shirt.

Zola: ‘I, and all the others, enjoyed it very much because there was a lot of enthusiasm, there was a great atmosphere, not only around the stadium, but also with the players.

'It was really good, and that was one of the main reasons why we were successful. We were allowed to get into the system very quickly. There was a collaboration from everyone for us to be successful, and that was very important.’

In the fourth long read retelling the story of the 1996/97 season, we will remember the epic 4-2 FA Cup win over Liverpool…