Chelsea and Gianluca Vialli — that’s amore

For football supporters brought in by Ruud Gullit’s promise of 'sexy football' one name will forever be associated with its arrival in West London. Gianluca Vialli was the bridge between the old and the new

LONDON PRIDE: Chelsea player/manager Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola show off the European Cup Winners Cup after defeating VfB Stuttgart in the May 1998 final at the Rasunda Stadium, Stockholm. Chelsea won the match 1-0. Pic: Ross Kinnaird/Allsport

There are many images which can be recalled to honour the life of Gianluca Vialli, whose untimely death at the age of 58 to pancreatic cancer is being marked and mourned throughout the world of sport.

Vialli, wearing gloves, barrelling through the icy drifts in Tromso like a runaway snow plough to score two vital goals with an orange ball to keep Chelsea in the European Cup Winners Cup in October 1997, a competition they would win with him as player-manager seven months later.