Former Chelsea striker and manager Gianluca Vialli has revealed that he has been privately struggling with cancer for a year now.
However, the good news is that the 54-year-old is now in remission and back to possessing, in his own words, a “beastly physique”.
Vialli made the announcement in Monday’s edition of Corriere della Sera, adding that he hoped his story might inspire people going through the same thing.
I’m fine now, very well indeed.
It’s been a year and I’m back to having a beastly physique, although I still have no certainty of how this match will end.
The Juventus legend, who is now a staple pundit for Sky Italia, also revealed that he took conscious steps to hide his illness from everybody:
I used to wear a sweater under my shirt so no-one noticed anything. I was still the person everyone knew.
I hope my story can inspire people, who are at crucial intersections of their lives, and I hope mine is a book to keep on the bedside table so people can read one or two stories before falling asleep or in the morning as soon as they wake up.
Another key phrase that came up during my treatment, hanging on a yellow post-it on the wall, was this: ‘We’re the product of our thoughts.
The important thing isn’t winning; it’s thinking like a winner. Life is made up of 10 percent for what happens to us and 90 percent for how we deal with it.
I hope my story can help others, to deal with what’s happening in the right way.
While precise details remain personal, Vialli said that he was diagnosed earlier in 2018 and underwent eight months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy to treat his cancer.
It’s impossible not to love Luca, with his insightful, dulcet burr a welcome addition to any punditry panel. It’s only a shame we don’t get to hear more from him here in England.
It goes without saying, here’s wishing him the very best in his continued recovery.