Former Chelsea chief Gianluca Vialli is in the frame for a shock return to management as caretaker boss at Serie A outfit Juventus, as current coach Gigi Del Neri is facing the boot.
It has been nearly nine years since Vialli was in his last managerial post at Watford, but Tuttosport have reported that the Italian is the perfect man to replace Del Neri, at least in the short term, as the Vecchia Signora are currently sitting in 7th place in the league and struggling to cement European football for next season.
Vialli enjoyed a successful spell at Stamford Bridge winning the 1997 FA Cup as a player, but also impressed there in his first ever managerial post.
The 46-year-old won both the League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1998 at the helm of the west London club. The following season he added the European Super Cup to his trophy count after Chelsea beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the final. That season he also took the Blues to 3rd place in the Premier League and earned Champions League qualification, a competition in which Vialli guided his side into the quarter final in their debut season in the competition.
But the Chelsea didn’t fare as well in the league that season and finished a disappointing fifth in the league. However, another FA Cup final win in 2000 against Aston Villa and a FA Charity Shield victory over Manchester United ahead of the 2000/01 season, took Vialli to five trophy trophies at the club, which made him the most successful manager at the time.
Unfortunately Vialli’s tenure as Chelsea manager ended only five games into the 2000/01 campaign and he was then replaced by another Italian Claudio Ranieri, who proved to become a Chelsea favourite in his own right.
