Looking back at Chelsea’s last great Dane: Jesper Gronkjaer

Chelsea’s new Scandi superstar, Andreas Christensen, is taking England by storm. Quite rightly so too. However, there was a legendary Dane to come before him: Jesper Gronkjaer.

Andreas Christensen has just returned from a two year stint in Germany with Gladbach and is now slotting very nicely into Chelsea’s back three. Denmark have always had a decent player or two in their production line. The Laudrup twins in the past to more recent successes like Christian Eriksen and, of course, Nicklas Bendtner.

This got me thinking about Chelsea’s last great Dane. A tricky winger who was once the most expensive Danish player of all time. Jesper Gronkjaer.

The move that brought him to Chelsea in the new millennium was worth a fairly large 7.8 million crisp British pounds. Remember, at this time Chelsea’s Russian bank-roller hadn’t taken over yet. Some will argue that he was a flop. Others, may say he payed back his fee ten times over when he scored that goal against Liverpool.

That Game. That Goal.

May 2003. The venue, Stamford Bridge. The task, qualify for the Champions League (while simultaneously stopping Liverpool). Roman Abramovich was waiting in the wings to make Chelsea a global powerhouse. This, however, was all down to one condition – qualify for the Champions League.

For those one you that can’t remember, it’s time for a recap. Eleven minutes in, Liverpool take the lead through Sami Hyypia. It looks like another nearly moment for the Blues. However, the Danish hero had other ideas. Jesper Gronkjaer whipped in a delightful cross for Marcel Desailly to head home. He then went one better. Picking the ball up outside the box, cutting inside and falling over, Jesper Gronkjaer curls one into the far corner with his weak foot. Sublime.

The game finished 2-1 to Chelsea and Chelsea had done it. Gronkjaer’s goal is said to be worth £1 billion. That’s 131 and a half times more than his transfer fee. Don’t try to say that’s not the greatest deal in football history.

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Life at Chelsea

Gronkjaer scored 11 goals during his four years. Go checkout a compilation of his goals on YouTube. His goals against Monaco and Manchester United were awesome. He was always one for a cracker from outside the box. Often inconsistent, Gronkjaer spent most of his time being shunned by Chelsea fans. He did, though, always show up in the big games, scoring goals at vital times. Sadly his record of 7 goals in 88 games is not a great return overall.

Post-Chelsea

He moved onto Birmingham which was a disaster and then somehow got a move to Atletico Madrid. Again, this was a complete disaster. Time for take three. A move to Germany and Stuttgart turned out to be a total disaster. There’s a running theme here.

He needed to return to Denmark to re-establish himself. FC Copenhagen was his destination. He helped them qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history in 2006. In his first season back in Denmark, Gronkjaer was named the Danish League Player of the Season.

In 2011, he was part of an FC Copenhagen side that made it through the Champions League group stages. The first Danish club ever to do so. Poetically, his final ever Champions League game came for FC Copenhagen against Chelsea. A 2-0 aggregate victory for Chelsea sent FC Copenhagen home. Gronkjaer retired from professional football at the end of the season.

Personally, I loved Gronkjaer. I was just about old enough to start to develop some sort of attachment to players. Yes, at times he was frustrating, but that’s purely due to the fact that Chelsea fans knew how good he could be.

Final Fact

Gronkjaer was actually born in Greenland.

Next: Chelsea player ratings: Willian on top with rare headed goal and two assists

What were your memories of Gronkjaer? Let us know in the comments below!