He signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa for £475,000 and he won the club's Player of the Year award in his first season, though they were also relegated. He helped the club win promotion back to the First Division at the first attempt. He left Chelsea in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in the summer of 1991, having made and then withdrawn a transfer request, and then seemingly fallen out with manager Bobby Campbell after being dropped from the side due to declining a new contract. He was sold to Leeds United for £1.3m. He made 180 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals.