Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola admits he's been happy during a break this season after leaving as part of former coach Maurizio Sarri's departure.

Fully rested from his self-enforced break, you get the impression Zola is itching to have another crack at unearthing English football's next gem.

"It's been a quiet year," he told the Daily Mail. "I took a bit of distance, I needed to do that and I'm happy I did."

Inevitably, Zola pays close attention to Chelsea and is optimistic about his old club under former team-mate Frank Lampard.

"Chelsea are doing well considering they have a lot of young players in the team and they lost a very influential player in Eden Hazard.

"Chelsea is a very demanding club. They need to be in the Champions League and they need to win trophies because that is what the club has been doing for some time."