The president of Sampdoria, Marco Lanna, has suggested plans to form a tournament to honour Italian football legend Gianluca Vialli. Vialli passed away two days ago from pancreatic cancer. His last involvement in football was with the Azzurri, aiding Roberto Mancini’s victorious UEFA Euro 2020 campaign as the delegation chief.
Vialli scored 141 goals for Sampdoria, lifting the Scudetto in 1991 with the club before moving to Juventus where he won the Champions League in 1996.
Tributes have flooded into the mainstream media, including from former teammates Roberto di Baggio and Alessandro del Piero, highlighting Vialli’s impact on Italian football as well as his superlative personality off the pitch.
Lanna, who won Serie A in 1991 alongside Vialli, spoke to Sky Italia about his idea for a tournament which would include Vialli’s former clubs:
“I would like to organise a four-team competition involving Chelsea, Cremonese, Juventus, and Sampdoria: a ‘Luca Vialli Trophy’ from which the proceeds would go to charity.
He always had Sampdoria in his heart, he called me to find out how things were going, the internal dynamics. He has always been very close to this club.”
