The striker position has been a problem area for Chelsea in recent years, but it certainly wasn’t an issue when former Blues star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink led the line at the start of the 21st century.
Retired centre-forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, now aged 53, enjoyed an incredible playing career. In particular, he had a golden spell at Chelsea between 2000 and 2004.
Without a doubt, the current Blues squad would be drastically improved with a prime Hassselbaink in their ranks.
Appearances Goals Assists
177 87 34
Jimmy Floyd Hassselbaink’s record at Chelsea
Hasselbaink is included in the list of Chelsea’s greatest ever strikers. Unfortunately, he left just before an era of dominance for the Blues under Jose Mourinho’s management.
13 Mar 2002: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of Chelsea celebrates scoring the first goal during the FA Barclaycard Premiership match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, London. Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford/Getty Images
13 Mar 2002: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of Chelsea celebrates scoring the first goal during the FA Barclaycard Premiership match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, London. Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford/Getty Images
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored the perfect hat-trick without realising against Tottenham
On 13 March 2002, Chelsea recorded an emphatic 4-0 home win over London rivals Tottenham in the Premier League. Hasselbaink stole the headlines by scoring a hat-trick, while a young Frank Lampard was also on the scoresheet.
Hasselbaink completed the footballing feat of a perfect hat-trick, which is scoring with both feet and your head. It turns out that he only learned afterwards what he had done, though.
During an interview in 2023 with FourFourTwo about his career, Hasselbaink explained that he hadn’t even realised he had scored a “very special” hat-trick until after the match.
The former Chelsea striker said: “I scored a hat-trick against Spurs – left foot, right foot and a header. When I was told after the match that I’d scored a perfect hat-trick, I didn’t know what that was, I just thought a hat-trick was a hat-trick. But when they explained, that made it very special too.”
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It’s a timely reminder of Hasselbaink’s achievement just before Chelsea host Spurs on Thursday night in an important league meeting.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou is impressed by Chelsea, even though their form has been shaky in 2025. Let’s see if anybody can step up and write their name into the history books with a major performance.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink part of rare Chelsea group that includes Cole Palmer
There are only six players that have ever scored a perfect hat-trick in the Premier League while playing for Chelsea.
Until last year, Hasselbaink was one of five Blues stars in history to achieve the incredible feat.
Five Chelsea players have scored a perfect hat-trick in the Premier League:
🇮🇹 Gianluca Vialli
🇳🇱 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
🇨🇮 Salomon Kalou
🇨🇮 Didier Drogba
🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic
Perfection. pic.twitter.com/J0aNEy2cwn
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 26, 2019
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However, current talisman Cole Palmer joined the club when he netted a perfect hat-trick against Everton in April 2024. It’s one of countless records that the youngster has broken already during less than two years at Stamford Bridge.