Glenn Hoddle: Dennis Bergkamp almost joined CHELSEA before Arsenal move
Stuart Hodge
- 16 Nov 2021 20:00 GMT
- 7 min read
Former Chelsea boss Glenn Hoddle has dropped a transfer bombshell about one of the Arsenal heroes of the 1990s as he revealed that Dennis Bergkamp almost joined his compatriot Ruud Gullit at Stamford Bridge.
In the summer of 1995, Hoddle was keen to bolster his attack, having already supplemented in deeper areas with Gullit arriving from Sampdoria, and Inter Milan hotshot Bergkamp was available.
Hoddle revealed to Alive and Kicking – The 90s Football Podcast (via TalkSPORT) that the Blues were close to securing a deal with the Italian club for the Dutch frontman.
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Then-chairman Ken Bates attempted to get a deal over the line for Chelsea but they couldn’t get a deal done due to not quite being able to meet the Nerazzurri's asking price.
Hoddle said: “We nearly got [Dennis] Bergkamp over from [Inter] Milan, he was available but we didn’t have the money.
“I think between £6.5 million, £7m, so you’d have thought, as I said to [chief executive] Colin Hutchinson, give Batesy [owner Kevin Bates] a ring, see if whilst we’re out here, his agent, you know…”
Arsenal were able to pay the £7.5m instead and the rest is history as he went on to become adored by the North London club’s fans.
Gullit and Bergkamp: What might have been
Bergkamp played an integral role in the Arsene Wenger teams which claimed Premier League glory in 1998, 2002 and 2004.
The striker went on to score 87 times and provide 94 assists across 11 years at the club, making a total of 315 appearances before retiring in 2006.
Hoddle still muses about the potential of pairing Gullit and Bergkamp together at club level and what they could potentially have achieved.
A year after that summer which might have been, Hoddle left to become England manager succeeding Terry Venables and Gullit stepped up to the role of player-manager a year after arriving.
“Imagine if we’d bought them two then,” Hoddle added.
“That would have been exciting but they couldn’t raise the money at that time so we just missed out on maybe getting Dennis as well.
“But Ruud was fabulous and it elevated Chelsea and it was exciting times.”
