Gianluca VIALLI

After enjoying a glittering career in his homeland Gianluca Vialli decided that the time was right, at the age of 32, for a new challenge with the Premiership and Chelsea his chosen destination. Life at Stamford Bridge started promisingly enough for the former Juventus man, with eight goals in his first sixteen League games, but the arrival of fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola limited his opportunities. With boss Ruud Gullit preferring Zola and Mark Hughes for the two striker positions Vialli found himself on the bench far too much for his liking, including a 2-0 FA Cup Final win over Middlesbrough where he managed just two minutes as a late substitute for Zola. When Chelsea boss Gullit was sensationally axed in February 1998 it was Vialli that the club turned to and his managerial career got off to a quite exceptional start.


The Coca-Cola Cup was won 2-0 against Middlesbrough, with the Cup-Winners Cup added a matter of weeks later courtesy of a 1-0 win over Stuttgart. With the impressive return of eleven goals in twenty-one League games, seven of which were as a sub, who could argue with the player/manager's decision to play himself for the full ninety minutes in the Stuttgart game. The FA Cup was added to the cabinet in the year 2000 with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa and the club also enjoyed a memorable run in the Champions League before going down to Barcelona in a thrilling encounter. Vialli had impressed many with his leadership skills and handling of the media, but just a few games into the 2000/01 season he was somewhat surprisingly shown the door amid rumours that he had lost the confidence of some of the players. (David Scranage)


Gianluca Vialli died on Friday 6th January 2023 aged 58, in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

1980–1984    Cremonese    105    (23)
1984–1992    Sampdoria    223    (85)
1992–1996    Juventus    102    (38)
1996–1999    Chelsea    58    (21)

Total        488    (167)