Vialli: One of a kind

One of Italy’s finest strikers, Gianluca Vialli, he has done it all as a player, coach and now a commentator.

The 48 year-old started his career at at Italian side Cremonese in the year of 1980 in which he made 105 appearances and scored 23 goals. He later then got targeted by Sampdoria and he would spend a majority of his career here in which he enjoyed his time until Italian giants Juventus came knocking to offer him the deal of a life-time to play along-side the great Roberto Baggio who later Alessandro Del piero would learn off these great players.

Juventus purchased Vialli for £12.5 million in 1992, during this time he sore 38 goals in 102 appearances for the Turin club and also bag a couple of championships on the way such as the Italian Cup, the Serie A, Italian Supercup, UEFA Champions League, not too bad for one club.

Chelsea back then were not the Chelsea we see today with the unlimited transfer budget when it comes to players. Following the footsteps of Gianfranco Zola Vialli would opt to play for Chelsea in which he only played for a short amount of time scoring 21 goals in 58 matches but he would then become the player/ manager for the London club the following season. He also coached Watford, so he has a pretty good coaching record.

For his national team Italy, he would be stand-out form the squad as he relished in front goal, scoring at every opportunity he could. His statistics for the Azzurri were great scoring 16 goals in 59 matches.

Gianluca Vialli has since retired and has become a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. In my opinion one of the best strikers in the world along-side Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero.

Follow Peter Crepaz on twitter: @Crepaz10