Gianluca Vialli

[Fulham Broadway 16,827]

He has now died. So sad.

RIP a lovely bloke and such a Chelsea legend.

[Milan 17,853]

This has been an awful day. This is so sad. RIP 😟

[Vesper 28,763]

Gianluca Vialli dies aged 58

https://theathletic.com/4018445/2023/01/06/gianluca-vialli-dies-age-58/

Gianluca Vialli has died at the age of 58.

The former Chelsea player and manager had announced last month that he was stepping away from his role with Italy’s national team after being diagnosed for a second time with pancreatic cancer in 2021.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed his death on Friday morning.

President Gabriele Gravina said: “I hoped until the last that he could perform another miracle, yet I am comforted by the certainty that what he did for Italian football and the blue shirt will never be forgotten.

“Gianluca was a wonderful person and leaves an unfillable void, in the national team and in all those who appreciated his extraordinary human qualities”.

Vialli enjoyed an illustrious career with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea after starting out at Cremonese.

He scored 21 goals in 58 premier league appearances for Chelsea, winning an FA Cup, a League Cup and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

He earned 59 caps for Italy and played at World Cups in 1986 and 1990, before retiring from his playing career in 1999.

He has also managed Watford and Chelsea, winning the FA Cup with the latter.

In October 2019, he was appointed as the new delegation chief of the Italy national football team under head coach Roberto Mancini.

The FIGC said “a minute of recollection” for Vialli would take place before matches scheduled for next weekend.

[Johnnyeye 7,440]

ffs i hate cancer 😢😭horrible news. Rest In Peace Luca, condolences to his friends and family 🙏❤️😢

[DDA 9,690]

R.I.P.

Legend 👊 

[Vesper 28,763]

The Very Best Of Gianluca Vialli | Chelsea Legends

 

[Vesper 28,763]

Chelsea's Treble Winning Year! 🏆 | Gianluca Vialli's Italian Job | 1997-1998

 

[Johnnyeye 7,440]

16 minutes ago, Vesper said:

The Very Best Of Gianluca Vialli | Chelsea Legends

 

absolute legend❤️, man what a group of players we used to have, simpler times. This current lot should take note on what it really means to play for Chelsea. No one in this current group of players comes close to these players in terms of passion for the club. Maybe only Mount, Azpi, Silva and Reece

Edited January 6, 2023 by Johnnyeye

[whats happening 1,525]

rip 😞

[Superblue 6,370]

I'm so gutted about Luca today, this one just cuts.

I was just 9 years old when he joined in the summer of 1996, and although football around the globe wasn't as readily available as it is today, Italian football at this point was the pinnacle and this was a household name whom we had just weeks before watched captain Juventus to the Champions League. He might have been a declining force on the world stage but like Ruud Gullit a year before him, it was a world superstar coming to the Bridge the likes of which we'd not seen before.

The move could easily have gone so wrong, but for someone with such a huge career behind him there was no ego. Every time he graced the pitch at the Bridge he gave everything and the fans in turn reciprocated the love. That 4-2 comeback against Liverpool is one of my all time favourite games, where he scored the third and fourth and I was at the Cup Final in 1997 and one of the clearest memories I have of it was Vialli's introduction late in the game and the first time he got the ball, the atmosphere was electric for him.

Maybe there's bias and Chelsea blinkers on, but I've always felt a lot more of the foreign players that come to Chelsea hold an affinity for the club long after their time here than most other clubs, and Vialli highlighted that. Despite spending the twilight of his career here, you can tell how much he loved the club, still followed and supported us to his death and continued living in the area for the rest of his life even after leaving.

Despite the success under Roman, that late 90's side is up there, if not my all time favourite era supporting the club - a time where it was just enjoyable without the pressures and level of scrutiny/exposure that exists today, and I feel blessed that I lived to experience such a great player and man represent the club that I love. Cancer is a bitch, and having seen up close what it can do to a human being, the one solace that I can take is there's no pain and suffering for him anymore.

Rest in Peace Luca, we love you x

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

Such sad news

what a player, coach and absolute gent he was.

 

he was one of the first who put Chelsea on a map of the great European clubs of our time 

Those 4 titles he won with us were huge 

His family friends and fans hopefully can take solace that he lived he rich life, won it all and gave it it everything he had. 
 

Rip Luca 

[OneMoSalah 8,774]

Sad news indeed, 58 is no age to go.

First and foremost a top man, an unbelievable footballer and manager.

Rest in peace Luca

[Vesper 28,763]

19 minutes ago, Superblue said:

I'm so gutted about Luca today, this one just cuts.

I was just 9 years old when he joined in the summer of 1996, and although football around the globe wasn't as readily available as it is today, Italian football at this point was the pinnacle and this was a household name whom we had just weeks before watched captain Juventus to the Champions League. He might have been a declining force on the world stage but like Ruud Gullit a year before him, it was a world superstar coming to the Bridge the likes of which we'd not seen before.

The move could easily have gone so wrong, but for someone with such a huge career behind him there was no ego. Every time he graced the pitch at the Bridge he gave everything and the fans in turn reciprocated the love. That 4-2 comeback against Liverpool is one of my all time favourite games, where he scored the third and fourth and I was at the Cup Final in 1997 and one of the clearest memories I have of it was Vialli's introduction late in the game and the first time he got the ball, the atmosphere was electric for him.

Maybe there's bias and Chelsea blinkers on, but I've always felt a lot more of the foreign players that come to Chelsea hold an affinity for the club long after their time here than most other clubs, and Vialli highlighted that. Despite spending the twilight of his career here, you can tell how much he loved the club, still followed and supported us to his death and continued living in the area for the rest of his life even after leaving.

Despite the success under Roman, that late 90's side is up there, if not my all time favourite era supporting the club - a time where it was just enjoyable without the pressures and level of scrutiny/exposure that exists today, and I feel blessed that I lived to experience such a great player and man represent the club that I love. Cancer is a bitch, and having seen up close what it can do to a human being, the one solace that I can take is there's no pain and suffering for him anymore.

Rest in Peace Luca, we love you x

great post

[Superblue 6,370]

It's forgotten because United won the treble that year, but that 98/99 team were incredible and only finished 4 points off United that season. We lost Poyet for a period who at the time was Lampard esque with his scoring from midfield and we let a 2 goal lead slip at home to Leicester and I think lost to West Ham too late in the season when we were arguably in the ascendancy to go on and win it.

Given the way that United side are revered (and rightly so winning a treble), it could so easily have ended up rewriting a significant sporting achievement.

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

I'm beyond gutted, genuinely upset about Luca. Such a lovely guy. Was one of those that felt like we'd signed a genuine world class star. And what a legacy he left. Felt like he won us loads at the time as manager. I'm just really sad about it all. God bless Luca 

[Laylabelle 9,351]

So so sad! You sorta suspected it was coming after news from a few weeks ago but still a shock.. RIP

[Vesper 28,763]

Chelsea Women hold minute's silence for Gianluca Vialli at training, as fans begin to leave flowers at Stamford Bridge in tribute to 'Luca' after the death of their former manager at 58

• A minute's silence was held before Chelsea Women trained on Friday afternoon
• Gianluca Vialli dead: Ex-Chelsea and Italy striker dies from cancer aged 58 
• Vialli was incredibly popular at Chelsea as a player and then a manager later on
• OBITUARY: Vialli was football's 'Lion King' and he showed his class until the end
• LIVE: Follow all the latest updates as tributes pour in for the popular Italian 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11606671/Chelsea-Women-hold-minutes-silence-Gianluca-Vialli-training.html

[Fulham Broadway 16,827]

I remember watching him on channel 4 in the 90s when they had Italia Football on Sunday afternoons - quite exotic back then.

Talking of which his team mate at Sampdoria, Souness  has had a meltdown on Skysports, calling him a 'gorgeous soul'.

What is galling is he was diagnosed in 2017 and given the all clear in 2020.