I have to admit that, when news reached me that Chelsea had agreed to sign Adrian Mutu, I was worried. "Why do we want to sign someone who has had just one decent year in Serie A?" and, "Why Mutu, and not Vieri?" were just a few of the questions I was asking myself.

Three weeks on and my opinion of the guy couldn't be any different! He is absolute class!

Against Leicester, on his debut, I wasn't overly impressed with him. He seemed a bit taken aback by the pace of the Premiership. Yes, he scored a spectacular goal, but his general performance didn't fill me with joy. Yes, there was potential, but he didn't quite seem right.

Things soon changed against Blackburn. He was magnificent in that game. Honestly, he looked the finished article! Darting runs all over the shop, lovely little touches, and a clear eye for goal. But for a linesman's poorly judged offside goal, Mutu would have doubled his Chelsea goal's tally. A wonderful move by Chelsea was finished off cooly by Mutu. In the past, the linesman wouldn't have had a decision to make, as we would have had no one to finish it all off. Those days are now gone.

As it happens, Mutu did double his Chelsea tally later in the game. He latched onto a through ball by Frankie Lampard, rounded Friedel with his left foot before slotting home with his right. All at breakneck speed!

It was, literally, breathtaking stuff! But the question still to be answered is "can he replace Franco?" In my opinion, no.

Mutu may actually end up a better player than Zola. But there is, and will always be, only one Franco Zola. He is one in a million!