Editing Ruud Gullit (section)

== Club career ==
=== HFC Haarlem ===
On 22 September 1978, Gullit signed professionally for [[HFC Haarlem]] under coach and former [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] player [[Barry Hughes]]. Gullit made 91 league appearances for Haarlem, scoring 32 goals. He made his debut for the club at just 16 years and 11 months old, on 19 August 1979 (Haarlem-MVV Maastricht 2-2), becoming at the time the youngest player in the history of the [[Eredivisie]].<ref>Ruud Gullit, My Autobiography, p34</ref> In his first year at Haarlem, the club finished bottom of the Eredivisie, but bounced back the [[1980–81 Eerste Divisie|following season]] winning the [[Eerste Divisie]]. Gullit was named as the best player in the Eerste Divisie that season.<ref name="My Autobio">Ruud Gullit, My Autobiography, p35</ref>

In the [[1981–82 Eredivisie|1981–82 season]], Gullit was in fine form as Haarlem finished fourth and qualified for Europe for the only time in their history. In that same season, Gullit scored the goal he would later consider his finest: "Playing against [[FC Utrecht|Utrecht]] I went past four defenders and then the goalkeeper, and scored. It was an unforgettable goal for me."<ref>Glanville p3</ref> Barry Hughes was so impressed with the young Gullit that he described him as the "Dutch [[Duncan Edwards]]".<ref name="My Autobio"/>

=== Feyenoord ===
[[File:GullitvanGaal1983.jpg|thumb|Gullit (Feyenoord) in duel against [[Louis van Gaal]] (Sparta), 6 November 1983]] [[File:Ruud Gullit 1988.jpg|thumb|Ruud Gullit in 1988]]
The young Gullit was considered as a signing by English sides [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] and [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]], but managers [[Terry Neill]] and [[Bobby Robson]] turned him down. Neill later said that he considered [[Pound sterling|£]]30,000 too much for "this wild kid".<ref>{{cite news |last=Shaw |first=Phil |title=The Import Trade: Adventurers in search of the English experience: From Max Seeburg to Jurgen Klinsmann foreigners have brought variety to the domestic game. |work=[[The Independent]] |date=16 August 1994 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football--the-import-trade-adventurers-in-search-of-the-english-experience-from-max-seeburg-to-jurgen-klinsmann-foreigners-have-brought-variety-to-the-domestic-game-phil-shaw-reports-1383932.html |access-date=1 October 2010 |archive-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109064854/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football--the-import-trade-adventurers-in-search-of-the-english-experience-from-max-seeburg-to-jurgen-klinsmann-foreigners-have-brought-variety-to-the-domestic-game-phil-shaw-reports-1383932.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Gullit therefore moved to [[Feyenoord]] in 1982, where he made 85 league appearances, scoring 31 goals. At Feyenoord, Gullit found himself playing in his second season, 1983–84, alongside [[Johan Cruyff]], while the assistant manager was [[Wim van Hanegem]], and they were to leave a lasting impression.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Gullit's first season saw Feyenoord miss out on major honours, but [[1983–84 Eredivisie|the following year]] they completed the league and cup double. Gullit was named [[Dutch Footballer of the Year]] in recognition of his contribution to Feyenoord's success. At Feyenoord, Gullit occupied an increasingly advanced role in midfield, having played predominantly as a sweeper at Haarlem.<ref>Glanville p1</ref> While at Feyenoord, Gullit became the focus of a race row as manager [[Thijs Libregts]] was alleged to have referred to Gullit as "blackie" and criticised him for being lazy, though Libregts defended himself by stating that it was merely a nickname.<ref name="Glanville, p4">Glanville, p4</ref> While playing for Feyenoord at [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]] in September 1983, he was racially abused and spat on by supporters of the Scottish club.<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Smith | first1=Adrian | last2=Porter | first2=Dilwyn | year=2004 | title=Sport and national identity in the post-war world | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZfYh7n2qTMC&q=darkie | page=83 | publisher=Psychology Press | access-date=14 October 2009 | isbn=0-415-28300-0 | archive-date=14 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014114623/https://books.google.com/books?id=yZfYh7n2qTMC&q=darkie | url-status=live }}</ref> Gullit called it "the saddest night of my life".{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

=== PSV ===
In 1985, Gullit moved to [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]] for 1.2 million [[Dutch guilder]]s and wound up scoring 46 goals in 68 league appearances for the team. Gullit was again named Footballer of the Year in 1986 as he helped PSV [[1985–86 Eredivisie|capture the Eredivisie]] crown, a feat they [[1986–87 Eredivisie|repeated the following year]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== AC Milan ===
Gullit signed for [[AC Milan]] in 1987, paying the then [[World football transfer record|world record transfer fee]] of 18&nbsp;million guilders as a replacement for [[Ray Wilkins]]. Milan's club president [[Silvio Berlusconi]] had an ambition to revive the fortunes of the Italian club which had stagnated after its glory days in the 1960s. Among Gullit's teammates at the club were compatriot [[Marco van Basten]], who came at the same time. Later, they were joined by fellow compatriot, close friend as well as Ajax teammate of van Basten, [[Frank Rijkaard]]. The club also had a young [[Paolo Maldini]], along with a more experienced [[Franco Baresi]]. Gullit's exploits with first PSV and then Milan helped him win the [[Ballon d'Or]] award in [[1987 Ballon d'Or|1987]] which he dedicated to [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref name="Gullit smalltalk">{{Cite news |url=http://sport.guardian.co.uk/smalltalk/story/0,,1565756,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Ruud Gullit |first=Paul |last=Doyle |date=9 September 2005 |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=5 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105131120/http://sport.guardian.co.uk/smalltalk/story/0,,1565756,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

When he first arrived at Milan, Gullit initially struggled to fit in as he spoke no [[Italian language|Italian]] and was new to living in a foreign country.<ref>Ruud Gullit, My Autobiography, p49</ref> Gullit's first season at Milan, however, saw the club win the ''[[Scudetto]]'' for the first time in nine years, under coach [[Arrigo Sacchi]]. Initially used on the right of an attacking trio alongside van Basten and [[Pietro Paolo Virdis|Pietro Virdis]], after van Basten received an injury it was changed to a front two. The following season Milan built on their domestic success by adding the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] to their list of honours. That performance was followed by a 4–0 victory over [[FC Steaua București|Steaua București]] in the [[1988–89 European Cup#Final|1989]] final, with Gullit scoring two crucial goals. According to Gullit: “The year that we won the Champions League, in the semi-final against [[Real Madrid CF|Real Madrid]] I got injured. My meniscus was broken. I got a very quick operation so that I could play the final. The next season when I started to train again, not only my meniscus was damaged but also the cartilage, so for that reason, I couldn't play almost the whole season. It was hard because I was on the edge of maybe not playing football anymore.".<ref name="Gullit - Milan">{{Cite news | url=https://www.beinsports.com/en-mena/football/uefa-champions-league/articles/ruud-gullit-milan-maestro |work=Bein Sports |location=London |title=Ruud Gullit - Milan Maestro |first=Naz |last=Majeed |date=5 May 2020 |access-date=23 May 2023 |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718123959/https://www.beinsports.com/en-mena/football/uefa-champions-league/articles/ruud-gullit-milan-maestro |url-status=live}}</ref>

The following year, Milan retained the trophy as they defeated [[S.L. Benfica|Benfica]] in the [[1989–90 European Cup#Final|1990]] final. However, serious injuries sustained to the ligaments of his right knee limited Gullit's playing time, only managed just two domestic games in the 1989–90 season before appearing in the cup final.

In 1990–91, Milan's pursuit of a third consecutive European Cup was cut short by [[Olympique de Marseille|Marseille]] at the quarter-final stage. Having drawn the first leg at the [[San Siro]], Milan trailed to a [[Chris Waddle]] goal with little time remaining when the floodlights went out. After a short delay the lighting was restored, but Milan had returned to their dressing room and refused to return to complete the game. [[UEFA]] awarded Marseille a 3–0 victory and expelled Milan from all European competitions for the following season.

While Milan continued their domestic dominance by winning the [[Serie A|scudetto]] in both [[1991–92 Serie A|1991–92]] (a season in which they went undefeated) and [[1992–93 Serie A|1992–93]], Gullit's position became an increasingly peripheral one under new coach [[Fabio Capello]]. This was demonstrated by his omission from the [[1993 UEFA Champions League Final|1993 Champions League final]] in which Milan lost to Marseille, as under the UEFA rules clubs were only allowed to field three foreigners, which was later abolished after the decision of the [[Bosman ruling]]. Gullit: "After my injury, I was not the Ruud Gullit anymore what I was before. I had to adjust myself to a different way of playing football, because of the injury and because I was that much out of the game. I had to adapt my game, but I could deal with it. But of course, the role at Milan was less important than before, because at that moment the rotation system was introduced. So we were only allowed to have three foreigners. So sometimes you couldn't play. So that was also hard. When you are used to playing most of the games and all of a sudden you have to rest, so that was hard.”.<ref name="Gullit - Milan" />

[[Torino FC|Torino]] was interested in signing him, with the chairman claiming that an agreement with Milan was likely.<ref>[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1993/07/02/MD19930702-023.pdf El entrenador 'merengue' desmiente el interés por contratar a Gullit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212032648/http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1993/07/02/MD19930702-023.pdf |date=12 February 2021 }}. [[Mundo Deportivo]], 2 July 1993</ref> [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] was also in talks with Gullit, but fell through.<ref>{{cite book |last= Vermeegen |first= Harry |date= 1995 |title= Ballenjongen |chapter= Ruud Gullit |location= Utrecht |publisher= A.W. Bruna uitgevers BV |isbn= 90-229-8257-2}}</ref> Instead, Gullit was loaned to [[UC Sampdoria|Sampdoria]].

=== Sampdoria ===
In 1993, Gullit moved to [[UC Sampdoria|Sampdoria]] and led them to victory in the [[1993–94 Coppa Italia|Coppa Italia]] in the [[1993–94 Serie A|1993–94 season]]. He also scored the winner in a 3–2 victory over Milan. Gullit was briefly re-signed by Milan in 1994, but quickly returned to Sampdoria before the culmination of the [[1994–95 Serie A|1994–95 season]]. During his time, he served under future [[England national football team|England national team]] manager [[Sven-Göran Eriksson]] and the two had a strong understanding and mutual respect. In his brief time at Sampdoria, he scored 15 goals.

=== Chelsea ===
[[File:Gullit's jersey.jpg|thumb|right|Gullit's #4 Chelsea shirt, on display at the [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)#Centenary Museum|club museum]]]]
In July 1995, Gullit signed for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] on a free transfer. Initially played as sweeper by manager [[Glenn Hoddle]] with limited success, Gullit was moved to his more familiar role in midfield, where he scored six goals. The signing of Gullit, alongside the likes of [[Mark Hughes]] and [[Dan Petrescu]], propelled Chelsea to the semi-final of the [[1995–96 FA Cup|FA Cup]], although they only finished 11th in the [[FA Premier League]].

Gullit had some difficulties adapting to the style of play at Chelsea: "I would take a difficult ball, control it, make space and play a good ball in front of the right back, except that he didn't want that pass. Eventually Glenn said to me, 'Ruud, it would be better if you do these things in midfield.'"<ref name="Big Interview">{{Cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2511616.ece |work=The Times |location=London |title=The Big Interview Ruud Gullit |first=David |last=Walsh |date=23 September 2007 |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=20 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720025502/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2511616.ece |url-status=dead}}</ref> His adjustment, however, was rapid and he ended the season by being named runner-up to [[Eric Cantona]] as Footballer of the Year.

Gullit has since often stated in interviews that it was in [[London]] he enjoyed his career the most and felt happiest: "Every time I played for Chelsea, I thought, 'Nice game, beautiful stadium, great crowd, I'm playing well.' It was the only time I really had fun."<ref name="Big Interview" /> In moving to Chelsea, Gullit played an important part in the "foreign revolution" as numerous high-profile international stars, such as Italian [[Gianfranco Zola]] and Dutchman [[Dennis Bergkamp]], joined Chelsea and [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] respectively, which helped to increase the Premier League's worldwide profile.