Chelsea have signed goalkeeper Robert Green on a one-year deal as back-up to Thibaut Courtois and Willy Caballero.
The 38-year-old had a similar role at Huddersfield Town last term and appeared to be considering retirement before Chelsea made a move to bring him in on a free transfer to bolster their options in goal.
Green has enjoyed a long career in English football, turning out for Norwich City, West Ham and QPR in the Premier League, while also winning 12 England caps.
And while he had been considering his future towards the end of his time at Huddersfield, Chelsea represented an opportunity Green could not turn down.
Chelsea have signed goalkeeper Robert Green on a one-year deal as back-up to Thibaut Courtois and Willy Caballero.
The 38-year-old had a similar role at Huddersfield Town last term and appeared to be considering retirement before Chelsea made a move to bring him in on a free transfer to bolster their options in goal.
Green has enjoyed a long career in English football, turning out for Norwich City, West Ham and QPR in the Premier League, while also winning 12 England caps.
And while he had been considering his future towards the end of his time at Huddersfield, Chelsea represented an opportunity Green could not turn down. Green made his first-team debut for Norwich City in 1999 and totalled 241 appearances across all competitions for them, making the PFA Team of the Year when they won the First Division in 2003–04.
In 2006, he transferred to West Ham United, making the same number of appearances in a six-year spell in which he was their Player of the Year in 2008 and won promotion via the Championship play-offs in 2012. He then moved on a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers, winning the play-offs again in 2014. In July 2016, Green joined Leeds United on a one-year contract.
Green did not play for Huddersfield last season and featured once for Leeds United in a 5-1 victory over Newport County in the Carabao Cup in August.
However, he did play every minute of the previous season’s Championship campaign with the Elland Road side.
He becomes Chelsea’s second summer signing after Italy midfielder Jorginho followed new boss Maurizio Sarri to Stamford Bridge from Napoli. Green represents a series of changes at Chelsea after the London club sacked, former manager Antonio conte and swiftly replaced him with fellow Italian Maurizio Sarri.
Sarri had already been coaching for more than 15 years when he succeeded Conte at Arezzo. He began in the same summer as Italia 90. If you’ve ever been to Tuscany, the chances are you have driven through a village whose team was coached by him at one time or another.
Sarri never made it as a player. He was a rugged, non-league centre-back mentored by the great Kurt Hamrin, the Swede who used to regale his players with stories about playing against Brazil great Pele in the 1958 World Cup final and all those goals he scored for Fiorentina.
Unable to make a living as a footballer, Sarri worked as a foreign currency trader at the Banca Toscana. He was attached to the international department, which involved business trips to Europe’s financial centres, including the City of London. But the role never stoked Sarri’s imagination quite like football did.