Petrescu plays under Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea after a £2.3m switch in November 1995 from Sheffield Wednesday.

Although he was originally employed as a full back, Petrescu is increasingly used as a right sided midfielder, and with his trickery and powerful shots he regularly finds his name on the scoresheet.

He made his international debut against Italy in 1989 and went on to star in both USA 94 and Euro 96.

Petrescu's main weakness is his tendency to disappear out of games when his side are struggling.