Five Footballers Who Wore the Jerseys of Napoli and Chelsea

Napoli and Chelsea face off in the UEFA Champions League tonight, with a knockout stage spot at stake.

Chelsea fans will recognize a familiar face in the Napoli dugout, as former manager Antonio Conte looks to outsmart his old team.

Conte isn’t the only one with ties to both clubs. Here are five notable players who have played for both Napoli and Chelsea.

Gianfranco Zola

Napoli discovered Gianfranco Zola in the late 1980s and signed him for £2m from third-tier SEF Torres. Zola won the Serie A title in his first season, learning from Diego Maradona in Naples.

He scored 36 goals in 136 appearances for Napoli before moving to Parma, where he contributed to a European Super Cup and UEFA Cup win, netting 64 goals over three-and-a-half seasons.

Chelsea signed Zola in November 1996, and he quickly made a mark as the first mid-season player to win the FWA Footballer of the Year Award, beginning a successful period with the club.

Zola shone under managers Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, helping Chelsea secure two FA Cups, a League Cup, a Charity Shield, a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and a UEFA Super Cup between 1997 and 2000. He scored 80 goals in 312 matches and is regarded as one of Chelsea’s legends.

Jorginho

Jorginho was a key player in Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli team and followed him to Chelsea in a £57m deal in 2018. His move to a deeper midfield position helped him become one of Italy’s top midfielders.

He contributed to Chelsea’s Europa League success in his first season and later won the 2021 Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.

That same year, he also helped Italy win the European Championship, leading to the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award and a third-place finish in the Ballon d’Or. After four-and-a-half seasons, he moved to Arsenal.

Gonzalo Higuain

Higuain, another player Sarri brought to Chelsea, had established himself as one of Europe’s top strikers, scoring 107 goals in 190 league appearances for Real Madrid and excelling in Italy.

He set a Serie A record with 36 goals in the 2015-16 season at Napoli. Higuain later moved to Juventus for €90m, winning back-to-back domestic doubles but was loaned to AC Milan and struggled at Chelsea, scoring only five times in 20 matches, although he did win a Europa League medal.

Kalidou Koulibaly

Napoli made a smart move signing Kalidou Koulibaly from Genk for £6.5m. After years of speculation about a Premier League move, he joined Chelsea for £33m in 2022 but faced challenges during his time there.

He had a tough season before transferring to Saudi Pro League team Al-Hilal.

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku will come up against his former club tonight, having had two previous stints at Chelsea. He joined as a teen from Anderlecht but left after making only 10 league appearances. Following successful spells at Everton, Manchester United, and Inter Milan, he rejoined Chelsea for a club-record £97.5m in 2021.

However, his second stint was disappointing, with just eight league goals in 26 games and a controversial interview that upset the fans. He was loaned back to Inter Milan and then to Roma before signing with Napoli for €30m in 2024, scoring 14 league goals in that season as the club won the Scudetto.