Chelsea legend Zola goes through shirts from his incredible career

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola has given fans a unique insight into his stunning career through the various kits he wore as a player.

In the latest episode of BT Sport's 'What I Wore' series, Zola was asked to talk about some of the pivotal moments of his playing days as they worked through the kits that defined his career.

Zola began his career in his homeland of Italy, most notably with Napoli and Parma, and won the Serie A title and UEFA Cup before departing for Chelsea where he would go on to become a club icon.

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The first shirt presented to Zola was a classic red Napoli strip from 1988/89, which was sponsored by Mars, and the material seemed to cause a lot of problems. The free confectionary made up for it though.

Zola said: 'This shirt was very good in winter when it didn't rain but when it did this shirt used to weight four or five kilos. I have a lot affection for this shirt. I won my first league title with Napoli and I became what I became because of my experience in Naples so I am very grateful.

'Before Christmas they used to give us a huge bag full of Mars sweets and everything. I wasn't really that fit.'

When Zola moved to Naples from Bigon in 1989, he found something of a mentor in Diego Maradona. The pair became so close that Zola was known as the understudy to the maverick Argentine.

'It was like God coming to earth,' Zola said. 'Maradona was a present to the team and the whole city. He was something special and it'll never happen again. They (Napoli) won two titles with him but from all of a sudden they went from a mid-table team to one of the best in Europe with him.

'I always say when I speak about him that people only ever see what he did in games. But what he used to do in training was much more than that. He used to be able to do everything with the ball. I had the possibility to train with and see the best player in the world, if not of all-time, so it was an unbelievable opportunity for me to improve and become better.'

In 1993, Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma. He established himself as one of the league's best players and almost won another Serie A before clinching the UEFA Cup in 1995.

He spoke fondly of a classic 1993-95 Parma shirt that he picked off the handrail and mentioned some of the young players at the club who would reach extraordinary heights.

'(Fabio) Cannavaro I played with in Naples and he was just an apprentice. He used to come with us now and again and we couldn't wait to send him back because he was too good. We couldn't touch the ball with him. You could see he was going to be important.

'(Gianluigi) Buffon was just sensational. I think the first game he played was against Juventus away and was the best player on the pitch. Second game was against Milan, top of the league, and he was the best player.

'He used to come into training as a young player and we would stay at the end to take shots but we couldn't score. 17-years-old, cheeky b******, always challenging everybody and you couldn't score. He was simply amazing.'

After a spell with Maradona at Napoli, Zola encounter another of football's wild players in Faustino Asprilla at Parma. 'We could make a whole programme about Asprilla,' Zola joked. 'He was totally crazy, more than crazy, beyond craziness.'

Zola became frustrated of playing in an unfamiliar role at Parma and  made himself available for transfer before moving to Stamford Bridge in November 1996.

'(Ruud) Gullit was a big influence and he wanted me,' he revealed. 'Also the fact that there were two players like (Gianluca Vialli) and (Roberto) Di Matteo, in particular, because we used to be in the national team together and they used to speak highly about the club. It was like falling in love with football again when I came over here.

'We (the Italians) were in a good place. We were loved and that helped a lot. I remember the feeling of being so appreciated was amazing.

Zola also revealed how he felt the serious injury suffered by Chelsea team-mate Pierluigi Casiraghi in 1998/99 ruined their chances of winning the Premier League.

He said: 'I am so disappointed because he is one of my best friends and I was so pleased to see him come to Chelsea. He was going to help us but when he got injured against West Ham it was such a bad thing for all of us and for me in particular because I wanted to play with him a lot.

'I always played with him in the national team, never at club level and I thought we could have been very successful with him. That year we came third because basically he got injured and it was just me and Tore Andre Flo that played all year.

'There were moments when we were tired and if he had been there then I am 100 per cent sure we would have won the league.'

The film concluded with possibly two of the final kits that Zola wore during his time at Stamford Bridge. The jerseys belonged to fellow club icons John Terry and Frank Lampard and Zola paid tribute to their greatness.

'These two make history. With John you could see straight away as soon as he came in that he's a born leader you know. He was such a strong personality so I had no doubt.

'We can't forget that he played instead of Frank Leboeuf as well and back then he was considered one of the best defenders in Europe so that's not a bad thing for a young boy.

'With Frank you could see with his work ethic and application in training that he was amazing and everything he achieved was well-deserved.'