Two captains and a striker lead Chelsea-Newcastle connections

Newcastle prepare to welcome the Premier League champions to St James’ Park on Saturday, hoping to claim their first win of the league season and allay growing unrest.

Ladbrokes News takes the opportunity to look back at a handful of the players that have had the honour of wearing both their black and white strip, as well as Chelsea’s famous blue:

Damien Duff

The Irish flyer was a £17m acquisition by Claudio Ranieri for Chelsea upon Roman Abramovich’s arrival in west London. He scored five goals in 23 league outings for the Italian, but upped his production when Jose Mourinho arrived the following season.

Duff won consecutive Premier League crowns under the Portuguese, but was sold to Newcastle for £5m in 2006/07 after Salomon Kalou arrived.

At St James’ Park, the now Shamrock Rovers star played 86 games and scored six goals, but fled to Fulham once the club were relegated to the Championship in 2009/10.

Geremi

Arriving at Stamford Bridge the same summer as Duff, by way of a season-long loan at Middlesbrough from Real Madrid, the Cameroonian was little more than a squad player for the Blues in his four campaigns there.

Often played at right-back on the rare occasions he did make the side, he returned to his familiar role upon signing for Sam Allardyce’s Magpies in 2007/08, even being named captain!

Despite the role of responsibility, Geremi never totted up 30 games in a season for the north east club and left for Turkey’s Ankaragucu after three seasons.

Scott Parker

Proving that Newcastle was a safe haven for failed Ranieri buys in the early 2000s, Parker became the third signing by the Italian to flee north, after two miserable seasons of just 15 league outings in London.

Although he only stayed at Newcastle for two terms, Parker was well-liked by the supporters and gained a recall to the England side while at the club.

Celestine Babayaro

The Nigerian, signed as a teenager from Anderlecht by Ruud Gullit, remained at Chelsea for seven and a half seasons, battling Graeme Le Saux and then Wayne Bridge for time at left-back.

A Cup Winner’s Cup and FA Cup victor while with the Blues, Babayaro moved to Newcastle midway through Mourinho’s first season in charge, but failed to leave a lasting impact at St James’ due to injury.

Gavin Peacock

For a change in this list, Peacock was a Magpie prior to moving to Stamford Bridge. The midfielder-cum-striker racked up over 100 appearances for both sides but was far more prolific in front of goal for Newcastle, scoring 35 times in 105 games for them compared to just 17 in 103 for Chelsea.
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