Hernan Crespo

About Hernan Crespo

Parma appears twice in Hernán Crespo's career, once at the start of his European career and once at the very end, and between those two spells lies one of the busiest itineraries any top striker of his generation completed. Born in July 1975 in Buenos Aires province, he came through River Plate and made his name there between 1993 and 1996, a penalty-box forward with a natural instinct for where the ball would drop. River won domestic titles and the Copa Libertadores in that period, and the young centre-forward was part of that successful side.

In 1996 he crossed to Italy and joined Parma, then one of the strongest and most ambitious clubs in Serie A. After a slow start he became a prolific scorer, and his four seasons there turned him into one of the most coveted forwards in Europe. Lazio signed him in 2000, and in Rome he finished as Serie A's top scorer, confirming that he belonged among the elite.

What followed was a run of moves that would define his reputation as a striker in constant demand. He went to Inter in 2002, then to Chelsea in 2003, part of the first wave of big signings in London after the club's change of ownership. Adapting to English football proved difficult, and in 2004 he was loaned back to Italy, this time to AC Milan. That season produced the night he is perhaps most remembered for outside Argentina: the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, where he scored twice before half-time against Liverpool, only for Milan to lose the match on penalties after one of the most famous comebacks ever seen.

He returned to Chelsea for the 2006 to 2008 period, and then went back to Inter, where his experience counted in a squad that kept winning in Serie A. The closing stages took him to Genoa between 2009 and 2010 and, finally, back to Parma from 2010 to 2012, completing the circle where his Italian journey had begun.

For Argentina he was a regular goalscorer for more than a decade, playing at several World Cups and sharing the attacking duties with another great Argentine number nine of the era. His style rarely relied on dribbling or pace; he was a finisher above all, sharp with his head and his first touch, and expert at timing a run across the near post.

That combination explains why so many big clubs wanted him and why he kept moving. In total, his career spans ten spells across Argentina, Italy and England, and the striking pattern is how often he was wanted back: by Chelsea, by Inter and, at the very end, by Parma.