Gianluca Vialli
Italian striker and manager who won all three major European club competitions and later managed Chelsea.
Gianluca Vialli (Italian pronunciation: [dʒanˈluːka viˈalli, - ˈvjalli]; 9 July 1964 – 5 January 2023) was an Italian football player and manager who played as a striker. He is one of nine footballers to have won the three main European club competitions and the only forward to have done so; he is also the only player in European footballing history to hold both winners and runners-up medals in all three mainstream UEFA club competitions, including two winners medals for the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Forward; Attacking Midfielder
- Nationality
- Italian
- Premier league club
- Chelsea
- Role at chelsea
- Player-Manager
- Famous partnership
- Roberto Mancini (Sampdoria & Italy)
- Status
- Deceased (January 2023)
Lore & Background
Vialli started his club career at Cremonese in 1980, making 105 league appearances and scoring 23 goals. He moved to Sampdoria in 1984, scoring 85 league goals and winning three Italian Cups, Serie A, and the European Cup Winners Cup. In 1992 he transferred to Juventus for a world record £12.5 million, winning the Italian Cup, Serie A, Italian Supercup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Cup. He joined Chelsea in 1996, becoming player-manager the following season, and won the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners Cup, and UEFA Super Cup. At international level, he represented Italy in the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups and at UEFA Euro 1988, helping his nation to a semi-final finish and being elected to the team of the tournament. He scored 259 goals at club level, 16 with the national team, and 11 with the Italy under-21 team, for a total of 286 goals in more than 500 appearances. After retiring, he managed Chelsea and later worked as a commentator for Sky Italia. He was part of the Italy national team non-playing staff as a coordinator when they won UEFA Euro 2020; he stepped back from this role days before his death from cancer.
Reader's Guide
Vialli's senior career began at Cremonese in Serie C1, winning promotion to Serie B. At Sampdoria he formed a prolific strike partnership with Roberto Mancini, earning the nickname 'The Goal Twins'. He scored a record 13 goals in the 1989 Italian Cup and both goals in the 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup final. He was Serie A top scorer in 1990–91 with 19 goals. At Juventus, he captained the side to a Champions League win in 1996. At Chelsea, he became the first Italian to manage in the Premier League and, at 33 years and 308 days old, the youngest manager to win a UEFA competition. He retired from playing at the end of the 1998–99 season, making his last appearance scoring the winning goal against Derby County.
Did You Know?
- He scored both goals in Sampdoria's 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup final victory over Anderlecht.
- At 33 years and 308 days old, he became the youngest manager to win a UEFA competition, a record later broken by André Villas-Boas.
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