Former Italian footballer Gianluca Vialli (1964-2023) is dead. He died of cancer at the age of 58, his ex-club Sampdoria Genoa announced on Thursday.

"We will remember you as a young and tireless striker because heroes are all young and handsome and you were our hero that summer of 1984. Strong and beautiful, with the 9 on your back and the tricolor on your heart. Leader of the strongest Sampdoria, along with your twin Bobby Gol. In three words: one of us," the statement said. "You gave us so much, we gave you so much: yes, it was love, mutual, infinite."

The club extended their deepest condolences to Vialli's wife Cathryn, his daughters Olivia and Sofia and the entire family.

Gianluca Vialli was a very successful star striker in the 80s and 90s. With Genoa he won the Italian championship in 1991. He also did that with Juventus in 1995 and even won the Champions League trophy with them in 1996. But the attacker was also successful abroad: he won the English Cup with Chelsea in 1997 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998, and even took over as player-coach for the Londoners for a few months.

"The legend of Gianluca will live on at Stamford Bridge. His influence as a player, as a manager and above all as a person will forever go down in the history of our club," said Chelsea boss Todd Boehly (49) and co-owner Behdad Eghbali (46 ) after his death.

Most recently, Vialli worked as a team coordinator for the Italian national team. With the "Squadra Azzurra" he celebrated the European title in 2021.