Chelsea and Italy legend, Gianluca Vialli has died at the age of 58.
His death comes five years after he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Announcing his death, the Italian Football Federation described him as “a great man, a great striker and a highly-regarded manager.”
Vialli had pancreatic cancer again diagnosed in 2021 after previously being treated for the illness for three years until 2020 and, although he was present for Italy’s 1-0 Nations League win against England, the physical toll of the disease was easily sensed.
The football world had begun to fear the worst when news emerged shortly before Christmas that Vialli’s 87-year-old mother, Maria Teresa, had made the journey from Italy to London to be at her son’s hospital bedside.
On Friday morning the Italian Football Federation said:
“Gianluca always fought head-on, with dignity and with the whole blue family to give him strength at a time of silent but enormous suffering. Italian football is not only mourning the head of the delegation of the national team but a great man, who even before that had been a great striker and a highly-regarded manager.”
“Vialli’s death leaves an unfillable void in the whole family of Italian football. To remember him, the Federation has arranged a minute’s silence to be observed before all the matches scheduled for next weekend.”
Gabriele Gravina, the head of the Italian Federation, added:
“I hoped until the end that he would be able to 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.”
Tributes were paid quickly by Sampdoria and Juventus, the clubs for which Vialli made his name; Chelsea, where he played and managed; and Watford, where he was also briefly in charge.
Vialli scored 40 goals in 88 appearances for the Blues between 1996 and 1999.
He then won three major trophies when he managed Chelsea.
Vialli won 59 caps for Italy and after he was initially given the all-clear on his health in 2020, he worked with Roberto Mancini’s staff in the Italian national team, who won the European Championships in England the following summer.
He stepped down from the role in December when he returned to the Royal Marsden hospital to undergo further treatment on cancer, which he called “an unwanted guest.”
Vialli is survived by his wife, Cathryne White Cooper, and their two daughters, Olivia and Sofia.
