The news of Gianluca Vialli’s death saddened the football world, already affected by the death of Sinisha Mykhailovych and Pele. The former Italian striker lost his battle with the disease, which he had been battling for the last few years.

Vialli was a colleague and coach of Dan Petrescu at Chelsea.

The closest Romanian to Vialli was Dan Petrescu. At first, they were teammates in the London “Chelsea”, then “Basuk” was coached by an Italian.

In the first reaction after learning the news, the coach of CFR Cluj told the story of the last meeting with the former football player.

“It’s very sad, but it was expected. Like Mykhailovych, he fought, but his chances were small. Too young, especially since he was a professional, he did not do excesses in life. He was fantastic both as a football player and as a coach.

He had been sick since 2017, but I didn’t know. He didn’t tell anyone. The last time we met, I didn’t think he had anything. But he told me that he can no longer do coaching work, that it is too much stress. That was the last time we saw each other.

When he came to Chelsea as a player, the first thing… we became friends. We became friends with him. We were inseparable until he became a coach. He seemed to me an unusual person, and he left too soon.

Unfortunately, it went too fast… both him and Pele. This is a very difficult time. There is too much going on. And Mykhailovych too. Too many football people, it seems. Vialli will remain a football legend,” Dan Petrescu said, reports As.ro.

The emotional picture was published by Walter Zenga

Walter Zenga shared the locker room of the Italian national team with Gianluca Vialli, both of whom reached the podium at the 1990 World Cup.

The former goalkeeper posted an old photo with emotional words: “Goodbye, Luka. That’s how I want to remember you. Rest in peace my friend! I will miss her so much…”

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A post shared by Walter Zenga (@walterzenga_official)