A much travelled striker who had already played for Perugia, Avellino, Casertana, Reggiana and Juventus before joining Middlesbrough's Premiership bandwagon in the summer of 1996.
Ravanelli, or the Silver Fox as he is affectionately known, had an immediate impact on Teesside, although his time at the Riverside Stadium was often blighted by disciplinary problems and run-ins with the hierarchy at the club.
That aside, however, he was inspiration for Bryan Robson's men, and he scored 33 goals in 52 starts for the club. But with the club's relegation back to the First Division Ravanelli was not going to hang around for too long.
Boro had forked out £7m for the Italian international, but only got £5.3m was they sold him to French side Marseille in September 1997. Ravanelli enjoyed more success before joining Sven Goran Eriksson's Lazio in January 2000.
But he struggled to hold down a place with the Italian club and Eriksson's departure to coach England signalled the end of his time with the club.
Out of contract at the end of the season he expressed a desire to return to the Premiership, and it was Derby County who answered the call.
There were problems at first, with Ravanelli having to secure a compensation package with Lazio. Also, the Rams only wanted to offer a one-year contract - so as to avoid a big wage bill if they were to be relegated. The striker wanted a two-year deal.
In the end everything was ironed out and Ravanelli returned to the Premiership with Derby in July 2001. Ironically, the last time Ravanelli was in the Premiership he hit a hat-trick against Derby!
- WHO'S WHO