Mario Stanic: Chelsea hero & scorer of one of THE great debut goals

You know the saying ‘save the best for last’? As Chelsea fans discovered in 2000, Mario Stanic had clearly never heard that saying.

Back at the turn of the millennium, Chelsea weren’t exactly the all-conquering behemoth they became under Jose Mourinho less than half a decade later.

They might have claimed a fifth-place finish in the last Premier League season of the 20th century, aided by a league-high 16-match unbeaten run, but the squad needed strengthening ahead of a campaign which would see them replace manager Gianluca Vialli with Claudio Ranieri.

Before Vialli departed, he made some important signings that would help shape the version of Chelsea that transitioned from also-rans to title-challengers (the influx of Abramovich money later in the decade helped a bit too, of course).

Forwards Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink would arrive from Bolton Wanderers and Atletico Madrid respectively, ultimately leading the Blues to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2004, while goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini would go on to make more than 200 appearances for the club after joining permanently in the summer of 2000.

But it is another of the players to arrive that summer who enjoys cult hero status: Mario Stanic. Well, at least to us he does.

When discussing Chelsea signings of the 21st century, the Croatian international barely registers. You’d probably forgotten all about him.

He was not signed off the back of a major tournament performance – Croatia had been pipped to qualification by a Yugoslavia side that went on to concede 13 goals in four games at the European Championship – but had impressed enough at Parma alongside greats such as Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo and Lilian Thuram.

However,