Tottenham assistant pays tribute to Gianluca Vialli after tragic passing

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte was excused from his press duties on Friday following the passing of Italian icon Gianluca Vialli, with assistant boss Cristian Stellini instead paying tribute to the former Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea striker.

Vialli died at the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London at the age of 58 after battling pancreatic cancer for almost six years.

After a hugely successful career in Italy, Vialli moved to England in 1996 when he joined Chelsea on a free transfer and became the club’s player-manager two years later. He led the club to League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Super Cup successes before winning the FA Cup in 2000.

Conte was a close friend of Vialli, who was part of Italy’s coaching staff for their Euro 2020 triumph against England at Wembley, and he missed his usual press conference ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Portsmouth.

Instead, Stellini paid tribute to Vialli by saying: “Antonio in this moment is upset and sad. Every one of us, we are close to Vialli’s family and all the people that loved Vialli. He is an important person in Italy and also in England so we are close together to stay with his family and to remember him in the right way.

“For us he was a great player but first of all he was a great man. He teach us a lot of things, not only when he played also when he speak with everyone. If you know him and people that know him can only speak well about this great guy. He was a great leader for Italy.”