Hernán Jorge Crespo (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾˈnaŋ ˈxoɾxe ˈkɾespo]; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player.

At international level, he scored 35 goals and is Argentina's fourth highest goalscorer behind only Sergio Agüero, Gabriel Batistuta and Lionel Messi.

[4] Crespo's awards include three Serie A scudetti, a Copa Libertadores, a Premier League title and an Olympic Games silver medal.

Crespo left River Plate for Parma on 14 August 1996 after he won the silver medal with Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics and finished as the top scorer with six goals.

[7] He failed to score in his first six months at the club and was routinely booed, with head coach Carlo Ancelotti coming in for much criticism for keeping faith with the selection of Crespo.

Lazio's financial problems, however, forced the club to sell several players, and following Alessandro Nesta's transfer to AC Milan, speculation over Crespo's future intensified.

On 31 August 2002, Crespo, expected to shine again after suffering from injuries, signed with Inter Milan as a replacement for the ex-player Ronaldo[10] for a €26 million fee and Bernardo Corradi.

[12] Inter was short of strikers after the highly rated Mohamed Kallon was injured in August,[13] and only Álvaro Recoba and Christian Vieri and Nicola Ventola, were available.

Crespo was transferred to Premier League club Chelsea on 26 August 2003 for a fee of reported £16.8 million[14] which also created a controversy in alleged false accounting.

[15][note 1] Following the transfer, Christian Vieri, Crespo's former strike partner at Inter, claimed that the club are essentially "weakening" by selling players of such caliber.

[17] On 16 September 2003, Crespo made his European debut, replacing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the 2003–04 Champions League group stage, which ended in a 1–0 away win after a late goal from William Gallas against Sparta Prague.

[22] After Chelsea's failed attempts to land a big-name striker during the summer of 2005, Mourinho needed competition for Didier Drogba and decided to recall Crespo from Milan, convincing him that he had a future in England.

[23] He scored his first league goal of 2005 against newly promoted Wigan Athletic in the 93rd minute of Chelsea's season opener in a 1–0 win, with a left foot curler into the top corner from 25 yards.

Following the expiration of his contract at Inter, Crespo was quickly snapped up by Genoa, taking Diego Milito's place, who moved in the opposite direction.

[29] However, a lack of first-team opportunities saw Crespo and Parma mutually agree to terminate his contract on 2 February 2012, although he did vow to return to the city he had fallen in love with.

Although Crespo was signed to play in Bengal Premier League Soccer in late January 2012, with a salary of £533,000 for the two-month tournament, the competition never got underway.

[34] Crespo was called up to the final roster for the 1998 World Cup but only made one substitute appearance, as Gabriel Batistuta led the Argentine attack.

[44] After the Copa América, Crespo did not receive any further call-ups to the national team and ended his international career with 35 goals in 64 matches, being currently Argentina's fourth highest goalscorer of all time.

[45][46][47][48] He was effective off the ball due to his work-rate, tactical intelligence, and attacking movement, which he often used to provide depth for his team or create space for his teammates;[49] he was also capable of linking up well with other forwards.

[citation needed] His most common nickname is "Valdanito", after legendary compatriot striker Jorge Valdano, as he was thought to be his heir due to their similar appearance and eye for goal.

In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Crespo starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside footballers such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona as the tournament "referee".

[56] On 22 June 2017, Chinese businessman Jiang Lizhang bought 60% of the stocks of Parma, and assigned Crespo as the new vice president of the club.

In the 2024–25 season following some bad results, including a 5–1 defeat to Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr, the club decided to dismiss him.