Gianluca Vialli ‘raised the bar in England’ – Chris Sutton pays tribute to Italian following his death at 58

Chris Sutton has paid tribute to Gianluca Vialli following his death at the age of 58.

BT Sport pundit Sutton spent a season playing under Vialli at Chelsea in 1999/2000, and says he has the “utmost respect” for the former Italy striker.

“He arrived in 1996 with the Italian invasion at Chelsea and he was just a brilliant striker, who could play anywhere across the frontline, and a brilliant finisher and scorer of many spectacular goals.”

Sutton feels Vialli helped transform the way football was played in England due to his dedication to the game.

“Vialli even at the end of his career, raised the bar and raised the standards of dedication and training,” Sutton said. “Vialli was one of those players who raised the bar in England.”

While Sutton struggled to replicate his brilliance for Blackburn at Chelsea, the 49-year-old praised Vialli for his man-management skills.

“He must’ve been frustrated with me but it never, ever showed and I will always have the utmost respect for him because of that,” Sutton said.

“He was a thoroughly decent human being, a real people person and he gave me his time and tried to help me. He didn’t have to spend those moments with me, helping me.

“My finishing at Chelsea wasn’t up to scratch, I struggled and lost a bit of confidence but he spent many an afternoon working on volleying technique and telling me to slow things down.

“I scored a volley when I was up at Celtic after Chelsea against Juventus in the Champions League – I wouldn’t have scored that without his coaching.

“He was an excellent coach, anyone that played under him would’ve had real clarity in the instruction which he gave out.

“He was just so well respected, charismatic and had the most wonderful, wonderful smile.

“It tells you everything you need to know about the regard he’s held in at Chelsea that they gave him the opportunity to become player-manager. It’s not easy to make the transition but he made such a good fist of it.”