In less than a month, two former Serie A greats Siniša Mihajlović died: Siniša Mihajlović and Gianluca Vialli. The latter suffered from pancreatic cancer twice and unfortunately died in a London hospital days ago. Vialli was an Italian international with 59 caps and 16 goals and he made his name in Sampdoria, along with his childhood friend Roberto Manchini. Afterwards, he signed for Juventus, before switching to Chelsea first as a player and then as a manager. And one of Chelsea’s former players Mario Melchiot recalled a funny story regarding the legendary Italian ace.Mario Melchiot pays tribute to Gianluca Vialli.❤️ pic.twitter.com/SncvtRWYKf— Football Transfers/News (@IbbyTransfers) January 6, 2023 With Chelsea, Vialli won the League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup within his first few months on the job, before he added the FA Cup in 2000. We are of course talking about the pre-Roman Abramovich era when trophies and big money transfers were not so common for the Blues. Melchiot was popular right back at the time and he came from Ajax Academy but knew Vialli way before that, and he decided to share his story.“I happened to be a ball guy when Vialli played here in Holland with Sampdoria, so I watched him play. We lost the Champions League final with Ajax and I was standing by the door to the dressing room and I asked him, ‘Vialli, can I have your shirt?’ He looked at me and said, ‘I don’t have it anymore, I already gave it away’. So he said, ‘Do you want my shorts?’ And so he handed me his shorts! At that time, I was maybe 19 and I was like, ‘I don’t care what you give me, you’re Gianluca Vialli!’ Even if he gave me a sweatband, I’d have taken it!” recalls Melchiot speaking with TalkSport.Former Chelsea player and manager dies from pancreatic cancerBut, fast forward a couple of years and Melchiot was already a sought-out player, and one day, he got a call which changed his career.“Next thing you know, I’m playing for Ajax and I’m a young talent and play there for a while and my agent says, ‘You’re going to get a call from Vialli directly’. I’d already spoken to people because Harry Redknapp came here, I spoke to Newcastle and Liverpool, they came all the way to Amsterdam, then Vialli called me. The first line he said to me was, ‘Mario, how do you feel about coming to join me at Chelsea? But, you’ve got to give me my shorts back’. When he said that line, I was sold. Imagine if a coach says he remembers that! I was like, ‘Wow’. I was 19, I was a nobody, so how did he know about Mario?” explained Melchiot.I had the pleasure of working with Gianluca Vialli a few times & he was always so warm, kind and knowledgeable.He came on Breakfast in 2020 to talk about his amazing book ‘Goals’ & we had a huge response to the interview. My love to his loved ones.pic.twitter.com/oYndXPG4IF— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) January 6, 2023 Former Chelsea right back also addressed the caring side of Vialli.“He said he wanted me to come, so I joined Chelsea and then the most devastating thing happened to me, I broke my foot in the first season, twice, so I didn’t play. Vialli said to me, ‘Mario, you need to do your rehab in Amsterdam’. He said ‘you’ll spend two weeks in Amsterdam and one week here so you’re not a stranger to the team’. He did that for almost a season and I only played the last six games and we ended up winning the FA Cup. That’s why I’ll always admire him. I’ll always have respect for him because of the way he treated me” remembered Melchiot.##NAJAVA_MECA_6929535##
