Former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has taken to Instagram to pay his respects to club legend Gianluca Vialli who passed away earlier this week after losing his battle with cancer.
Conte, who played alongside Vialli for Juventus and Italy, revealed that he had met up with his former teammate only a few months ago to reminisce about old times, and he wanted to say how much his old friend inspired him:
“We had dinner together in London a few months ago as we enjoyed reminiscing about all our adventures and battles on the field. Unfortunately, in recent years you have had to fight a great and terrible battle in life. I have told and written to you that you have always been an inspiration to me as my captain and how you were proving to be strong, proud and courageous, fighting like a lion against this disease. Always in my heart my friend. Goodbye Gianluca.”
Vialli both played and managed the Blues. He scored double figures in all three seasons as a player at Stamford Bridge. In terms of his achievements, he picked six trophies in total.
The striker won the FA Cup in 1997 before he was appointed player-manager. In his duel role, he lifted the League Cup, the Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1998.
After he retired from playing, he helped Chelsea to lift another FA Cup in 2000 as well as the Charity Shield the following season.
