Wayne Bridge has today completed his move to Manchester City, having agreed personal terms with the Eastlands club.
The club would like to thank Wayne for his services, and wish him luck in the future.
Bridge departs Chelsea a league championship winner, an FA Cup winner and a Carling Cup winner.
He also scored the Chelsea Goal of the Season in 2004 and it is with a little irony that the fans' most cherished memory of the defender's time with the club will always be that goal - a late winner at Highbury in the Champions League.
Bridge was one of a host of new signings the previous summer in the immediate aftermath of Roman Abramovich's purchase of Chelsea.
The player joined for £7 million on the same day as Damien Duff, the long-serving Graeme Le Saux going in the other direction to Southampton where Bridge had come through the ranks and progressed to become an England international.
Of the 11 new players who arrived in the summer of 2003 (of which only Joe Cole now remains), Bridge was the outstanding performer in the first season, the high point of which was the European quarter-final win over Arsenal, a long-awaited victory over our London rivals that heralded a change in football power in the capital.
His Highbury strike was one of three goals that campaign, more than he had managed in his entire five-season career at Southampton.
For his second Chelsea campaign, there was a change in management with José Mourinho replacing Claudio Ranieri but following a summer spent as an unused sub in England's Euro 2004 campaign, life under the new boss began with Bridge having to overcome niggling injuries that had previously escaped him. He was finding his best form just as the first serious injury of his career struck.
An ankle break suffered in a tackle by Alan Shearer at Newcastle in February 2005 came with rotten timing. Chelsea were well on our way to a first league title in 50 years.
However Bridge's 15 league appearances were still more than enough for a winners' medal and on recovery, he spent half-a-season on loan at neighbours Fulham where he rebuilt his form and fitness. Despite missing out on Chelsea's 2005/06 championship triumph, he won a place in England's 2006 World Cup squad, although again he didn't play.
The man who had won the national team's left-back place for that tournament joined Chelsea on transfer deadline day for the next season - but Bridge responded perfectly to the arrival of Ashley Cole by producing his best form since his debut season at Stamford Bridge.
Cole and he shared the 2006/07 season appearances more or less equally but the new signing's injury problems ensured Bridge started both the FA Cup and Carling Cup Final wins that year.
Last season was less balanced, Bridge undergoing a hip injury in the pre-season that kept him out until late September but the return was timely, with Cole on the treatment table a couple of weeks later.
Though Bridge was given the nod for the Carling Cup Final, it was Cole who was favoured by Avram Grant for most high-profile games.
The competition at both club and country level between England's top two left-backs continued into a third season, but Bridge started just eight games with three further sub appearances prior to his decision to move to Manchester City.
In total he played 124+18 games during his six Chelsea seasons, matches in which he was steady in defence and a bundle of energy going forward with his crossing a potent weapon. He scored four goals.
Article: ChelseaFc.com
