Winston Lloyd Bogarde (born 22 October 1970) is a Dutch retired professional footballer, and was the assistant coach at Ajax. He was known for his physical strength, and played mostly as a central defender although he could occasionally play as full-back. He had spells at Ajax, Barcelona and Chelsea. With the latter club he garnered worldwide attention when he received little playing time (no Premier League level appearances in his last three seasons combined), and nevertheless insisted to see out his lucrative contract. Bogarde represented the Dutch national team in one World Cup and one European Championship, being an international for five years. Club career Early years and Ajax Born in Rotterdam, Bogarde started his career at Schiedamse Voetbal Vereniging in the Eerste Divisie, as a winger, then switched to the Eredivisie in summer 1991, playing with hometown club Sparta (he previously had a short loan spell with neighbouring SBV Excelsior in the second division) and scoring a career-best 11 goals in the 1993–94 season as it qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Bogarde signed for AFC Ajax in 1994. After a slow first year – he did not leave the bench in the final of the team's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League– he became a defensive stalwart. Milan and Barcelona A.C. Milan signed Bogarde from Ajax for 1997–98, but he only made three Serie A appearances throughout his short stay. In January 1998 he moved to compatriot Louis van Gaal's FC Barcelona, playing 19 matches in the second part of the campaign as Barcelona won La Liga and the Copa del Rey. As the Dutch influence at Barcelona was reducing so was Bogarde's, who only managed one league contest in his first full season partly due to injuries, although he bounced back for a second respectable one (21 games, two goals). Chelsea Bogarde signed for Chelsea in 2000–01, after following the advice of compatriot Mario Melchiot to join him at the Premier League side. He was signed when Gianluca Vialli was manager, although the latter had no idea the transfer was happening, it arguably being conducted by director of football Colin Hutchinson – Emerson Thome, also a centre-back, was shipped off to Sunderland; only weeks after arriving, newly appointed coach Claudio Ranieri wanted the player to leave. According to Bogarde, it would be next to impossible to find a team that would offer him a contract comparable