Rangers legend leads tributes to former team-mate Gianluca Vialli - 'forget football, he was just a gorgeous soul'

Rangers legend Graeme Souness has led the tributes to Gianluca Vialla after the former Chelsea, Juventus and Italy striker passed away at the age of 58.

Gianluca Vialli, who has died at the age of 58, in action for Sampdoria in 1984. (Photo by Trevor Jones/Allsport/Getty Images)

Souness played alongside Vialli at Sampdoria before taking over as player-manager at Ibrox in 1986 and paid tribute to his former team-mate, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, on Sky Sports.

A visibly emotional Souness said: “I can’t tell you how good a guy he was. Forget football, he was just a gorgeous soul. He was just a truly nice human being.

“He was just fabulous to be around. He was such a fun-loving guy, full of mischief, wonderful footballer and a warm human being.

“People will say things about his magnificent football ability, and correctly so, but above all that what a human being. My condolence go to his family – the kids were blessed to have a dad like that, his wife was blessed to be married to a man like that.”

Vialli’s one and only appearance on Scottish soil came at Ibrox in 1995 when he was part of the Juventus side that beat Rangers 4-0 in a Champions League group fixture in 1995.

He scored 16 goals in 59 caps for Italy and won the Champions League with Juventus before moving to Chelsea in 1996, lifting the FA Cup under Ruud Gullit in his first season before becoming the first Italian to manage in the Premier League when he took over as player-manager the following year.

He led the club to a trophy double in his first season in charge, lifting both the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998. An FA Cup victory followed in 2000 but he was sacked the following season after a disappointing start. He then had a brief spell in charge of Watford before moving into a role as a TV commentator with Sky Italia.

Vialli’s playing career also two included Serie A titles with Sampdoria (1991) and Juventus (1995), as well as a UEFA Cup success with the latter. He was also a four-time Coppa Italia winner, while his £12.5million transfer from Sampdoria to Juventus in 1992 was a world record fee at the time.