Gianluca Vialli

Vialli enjoyed great success in Serie A with Sampdoria and Juventus before moving to Stamford Bridge in 1996.

I know he will get angry, but I just had to say it.” He is a living example. He was also a four-time Coppa Italia winner. He guided Chelsea to a third-placed Premier League finish in 1998-99, his last campaign as a player, and bowed out with the winning goal in a 2-1 home win over Derby. The following season, now as player-manager, Vialli led Chelsea to glory in both the League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup. At the end of the Italian’s first season in England he lifted the FA Cup and, although limited to a bit-part role under Gullit, he flourished at the London club after the Dutchman’s exit.

Gianluca Vialli left his role as a coach with Italy in December, citing his need to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer; the former Italy and Chelsea ...

He was such a fun-loving guy, full of mischief, he was such a warm individual and a fabulous player." Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness paid tribute to his friend and former Sampdoria team-mate: "I can't tell you how good a guy he was. He was the sort of guy you would really go into battle for - the trophies won proved that." He was so much an icon for players [at Chelsea], most of whom had played with him. Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said in a statement: "This is truly an awful day for Chelsea Football Club. Current Watford manager Slaven Bilic said, in tribute: "It's a sad day.

Vialli managed Chelsea and Watford after his playing career and was working with the Italian national team when his pancreatic cancer reemerged this winter.

In his final season and a half at Stamford Bridge, Vialli took over as player-manager when Ruud Gullit was sacked, becoming the first Italian to manage in the Premier League. He enjoyed a long and successful career across the 1980s and 1990s, first in Italy with Cremonese, Sampdoria and He had recently been working with the Italian national team but took a step back from duties this winter when the cancer reemerged and his health worsened.

Former Chelsea and Italy striker Gianluca Vialli has died aged 58. Vialli had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and left his role as head of delegation ...

Loved by fans, players and staff at Stamford Bridge, Luca will be sorely missed not just by the Chelsea community, but the entire footballing world, including in his native Italy, where he was such an iconic figure. After finishing his playing career, Vialli guided Chelsea to victory in the UEFA Super Cup, as well as the FA Cup in 2000. In November 2018, Vialli announced he had undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. ‘Without beating about the bush: Gianluca was a splendid person and he leaves a void that cannot be filled, in the national team and in all those who have appreciated his extraordinary human qualities.’ Vialli became Chelsea’s player-manager in 1998 – the first Italian to manage in the Premier League – and won both the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. He then joined Chelsea just a few months later and helped the club win the FA Cup in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

Former Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea great Gianluca Vialli has died aged 58. We take a look at his footballing life.

"Gianluca was a splendid person and he leaves a void that cannot be filled," said Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina. "I hoped until ...

A statement read: "He was loved by everyone at our football club. I tried to replicate his volleys In the park and such a lovely man when I met him. "He was just fabulous to be around. "People will say things about his magnificent football ability, and correctly so, but above all that what a human being. Writing on Twitter, BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker said: "Deeply, deeply saddened to hear that Gianluca Vialli has left us. He was just a truly nice human being. He will be deeply missed." Forget football, he was just a gorgeous soul. We will miss you." Vialli spent four seasons with Juve, winning the Champions League, Uefa Cup and Serie A titles. "I hoped until the end that he would be able to perform another miracle. A love that will not die today with you."

The Italian, who also managed the Premier League club scored 40 goals in 88 games between 1996 and 1999.

Vialli joined Chelsea in 1996 and helped them win the FA Cup at the end of his first season before guiding the London club to glory in both the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup as player-manager the following season. He was also a four-time Coppa Italia winner. He scored 16 goals in 59 appearances for Italy, featured in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups and helped the Azzurri to a third-place finish at the latter, while his £12.5million transfer from Sampdoria to Juventus in 1992 was a world record fee at the time.

Former Chelsea and Juventus star Gianluca Vialli has died at the age of 58 following a long battle with cancer.

Their Sampdoria team had lost the European Cup final to Barcelona at the same venue 29 years earlier. The memory of him and his example will live forever in our hearts." Vialli scored twice as Sampdoria beat Anderlecht 2-0 in 1990 to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup. The pair celebrated with a tearful embrace that "was more beautiful than the hugs we used to give each other when I passed him the ball and he scored goals," Vialli said in a TV interview with Italy's RAI in November. Under Vialli, Chelsea won the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and the FA Cup two years later before he too was dismissed. Vialli left the Genoa-based club in the summer of 1992, moving to Juventus, where after a sluggish start he rediscovered his goal-scoring touch and helped the Turin giants win the Italian league in 1995 and the Champions League the following season.

Former Chelsea and Juventus star Gianluca Vialli has died at the age of 58 after dealing with cancer for five years.

Their Sampdoria team had lost the European Cup final to Barcelona at the same venue 29 years earlier. The memory of him and his example will live forever in our hearts." Vialli scored twice as Sampdoria beat Anderlecht 2-0 in 1990 to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup. The pair celebrated with a tearful embrace that "was more beautiful than the hugs we used to give each other when I passed him the ball and he scored goals," Vialli said in a TV interview with Italy's RAI in November. Under Vialli, Chelsea won the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and the FA Cup two years later before he too was dismissed. Vialli left the Genoa-based club in the summer of 1992, moving to Juventus, where after a sluggish start he rediscovered his goal-scoring touch and helped the Turin giants win the Italian league in 1995 and the Champions League the following season.

Dynamic, intelligent forward for Chelsea, Juventus, Sampdoria and Italy who became the first Italian to manage a top-flight English football club.

In Turin he won the 1993 Uefa Cup during his first season and then, under a new manager, Marcello Lippi, captained the side to a double of the 1994-95 Italian championship and the Italian Cup, creating another formidable goalscoring combination with Fabrizio Ravanelli in a side that also boasted Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and Andreas Möller. That was enough to put him off management for good, and he moved instead into work as a television analyst and commentator, mainly for Sky Italia. He was dropped after missing a penalty in the second match against the USA, but returned for Italy’s semi-final against Argentina, which they lost on penalties. Qualifying for the European Cup, they reached the final at Wembley in 1992, but lost 1-0 to Barcelona in extra time, Vialli uncharacteristically missing three good chances before Ronald Koeman scored the winner. A year followed as manager of Watford, after which he decided to concentrate on other interests, including television work and a backroom job with the Italian national side. Gianluca Vialli, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 58, became the first Italian to manage a top-flight English football club when he took over at Chelsea in 1998, guiding them to FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup trophies.

All at Watford FC are saddened to hear of former manager Gianluca Vialli's passing aged 58. Appointed at Vicarage Road in the summer of 2001, the arrival of ...

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Everyone associated with Chelsea Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of Gianluca Vialli, our former player and manager, at the age of just ...

In May 2018, he managed a Chelsea Legends team against Inter Milan at the stadium. A brief spell as Watford manager followed before he turned his hand to punditry, charity work, book writing and, in 2019, a role with the Italy team. Following the shock departure of Gullit in February ‘98, Vialli took the reins at Stamford Bridge a few days before the second leg of a League Cup semi-final at home to Arsenal. We made it all the way to the quarter-finals, drawing two memorable games with AC Milan, going to Galatasaray’s ‘Hell’ and winning 5-0, and then beating Barcelona 3-1 in one of the very best nights the Bridge has witnessed. It brought the curtain down on a campaign in which we had gone as close as we ever did to winning the title between 1955 and 2005. It had been a long time since a Chelsea team and the word consistency had gone together so well. That magical moment was soon commemorated in song, to the tune of That’s Amore, heard up and down the country, and later over Europe: ‘When the ball hits the back of the Old Trafford net, that’s Vialli!’ The love between player and fanbase was very real indeed. For the first of those finals he did not involve himself on the pitch, for the second he did, although it was his fellow star from Serie A, Zola, who scored the only goal seconds after being brought off the bench. Luca Vialli arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 1996, shortly after skippering Juventus to Champions League glory. As soon as he walked through the door at Stamford Bridge when already a global football star, Luca declared his wish to become a Chelsea legend. He scored what would prove the winner at Old Trafford in November ’96, nutmegging Peter Schmeichel and celebrating in front of the travelling Blues contingent. Loved by fans, players and staff at Stamford Bridge, Luca will be sorely missed not just by the Chelsea community, but the entire footballing world, including in his native Italy, where he was such an iconic figure.

Vialli wore his wealthy upbringing with charm and grace and brought a rare sophistication to the English game, as well as his alluring talent.

This was one of the great Italian forwards who won almost every trophy he could win; a gifted goalscorer, an inspirational leader. And others, like those of us who went to Stamford Bridge as wide-eyed children of the 1990s, will remember Vialli at the start of the Premier League’s import era when glistening foreign talent arrived. Vialli was in on the joke of course, and in his unique blend of Italian Cockney he told a reporter after one defeat: “Well, ‘ats off to them.” His friendship with Mancini was a thread throughout his career and his life. “When you’ve got two strikers who don’t care whether the other striker is scoring three goals and you’re not scoring any, it’s fantastic,” Vialli said, “because all we wanted was for the team to win.” More recently was the story from Euro 2020 when Vialli was working as part of Italy’s backroom staff, between rounds of chemotherapy.