Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is, without a doubt, one of Europe's deadliest strikers. Once again, he leads the Premiership scoring charts but, unlike the people trying to catch him, Hasselbaink has experienced life at the bottom. It was only really at the age of 23 that he got noticed. Now he is making up for lost time…

Jimmy started out at a small Dutch club called Telstar. He played just four games there before being snapped up by AZ with high hopes. Things didn't go how Jimmy planned and, after three seasons there, he managed just five goals for them before being released. Feeling let down by his fellow countrymen, it was time for Jimmy to try his luck in Portugal. He had just played a trial match in Austria before his agent got him a trial at a little known Portuguese club. Those watching Hasselbaink were amazed and it was then that he gained the nickname “Jimmy”. His official name is Jerrel Floyd Hasselbaink but the president of Campomaiorense, the club where he was on trial, told journalists that his new striker was Jimmy. And it was here that he attracted interest from Boavista and they promptly snapped him up. 20 goals in 29 league games was enough to convince then Leeds manager George Graham to snap up the little known Hasselbaink. His incredible shooting ability gained him a reputation as one of the best strikers of a ball, a reputation that Hasselbaink tries to play down, “Koeman had a shot that was just perfect.”

When he signed for Leeds not only did it shock the English press but it also caused a stir in Portugal. For the English it seemed like George Graham had signed some unknown Dutch player who would flop but in Portugal they had expected Hasselbaink to sign for Benfica or Sporting Lisbon and were outraged when he left to join Leeds United. But in the end it proved to be the perfect move for Jimmy. He managed 16 league goals that season and would make his debut for Holland. Hasselbaink claims, “Without George Graham I wouldn't be an international now.”

His second season at Leeds saw him tie with Michael Owen and Dwight Yorke as the Premiership's leading scorer with 18 goals. But Hasselbaink's comments in the press were strange. He didn't seem too fond of the club but only of the manager. Perhaps he felt that he owed George Graham something. Who knows? When Graham left to manage Spurs midway through that season it seemed likely that Hasselbaink's form would drop. He threatened to leave at this point but decided to stick it out until the end of the season. There was no shortage of bidders for one of Europe's hottest strikers. Chelsea and Spurs were the two English clubs bidding for him but Leeds weren't going to let any of their rivals have him so Jimmy signed for Atletico Madrid. Leeds claim that the only reason he left was because they would not match his enormous pay demands, a rumour that Jimmy denies.

Personally, the season could not have gone much better for him. 24 league goals was a very impressive total but unfortunately, Atletico were relegated. This meant that Jimmy would sit out Euro 2000, despite the fact that he had scored more goals than any of Holland's other strikers that season. But this rest made him even stronger for his newest team: Leeds' fierce rivals Chelsea. £15

million may have seemed a lot of money but Jimmy has been banging in goals for fun ever since. Gianluca Vialli was the man who brought him to Chelsea but Jimmy would play just five games for him. By the time that Claudio Ranieri was brought in to replace Luca, Chelsea were out of the title race for the season and struggling in the relegation zone. Things changed and the more goals that Jimmy scored, the better Chelsea got. He finished with 23 goals that season and was top of the Premiership scoring charts. He has rarely criticised Chelsea and seems happy with life in London. He may seem angry when things aren't going right but that is simply emotion, he says. And who can blame him- he has had to work so hard to get where he is today so, naturally, he is keen to succeed. He has a first chance of silverware in England (excluding the Charity Shield) when Chelsea take on Arsenal in the FA Cup Final next month. And if anyone deserves to win some silverware it is definitely Europe's best striker…