Three decades have passed, but his catchphrase never gets old. ‘Everybody loves the sexy football,’ says a smiling Ruud Gullit in his unmistakable Dutch accent.
The Netherlands legend coined the term while working as a BBC pundit at Euro 96. However, Gullit found nothing sexy about English football when he joined Chelsea on a free transfer from Sampdoria, 30 years ago on Tuesday.
‘I thought, “What have I done?”,’ admits the 1987 Ballon d’Or winner. ‘There were only two stands up at Stamford Bridge. It was a wreck. It was also a bit of a culture shock.