Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte cut an emotional figure before his side's clash with Brighton as both clubs paid tribute to Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, who died this week at the age of 61.
Ventrone, who worked with Conte at Juventus as well as Tottenham, passed away from fulminant leukaemia. The club paid their own tribute during the week, with a number of members of Conte's squad sharing their personal memories of the Italian.
In addition to the manager's comments, Spurs' players paid their respects during the warm-up ahead of the Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion. The players walked out onto the pitch wearing t-shirts bearing the message 'Always in our hearts, Gian Piero'.
Players and fans at the Amex Stadium then held a minute's applause for Ventrone, with Spurs fans singing his name.
"To find words for Gian Piero is very difficult at this moment," Conte said before the match. "We are really devastated by the pain of what happened.
"Also because no one expected this situation. But sometimes you know life is not always positive situations.
"For this reason we have to cope in the best possible way because I know Gian Piero wanted to stay strong and continue to do our work in the way that he taught us."
Ventrone had been with Spurs since November 2021, following Conte to north London. As well as spending time at Juventus, he had spells working with Juventus, Catania, JS Suning, GZ Evergrande and AC Ajaccio.
England captain Harry Kane was among the players to share messages during the week after Ventrone's death. Conte, meanwhile, had cancelled a planned pre-Brighton press conference after the news.
"A truly remarkable man. I’m devastated by the passing of our coach Gian Piero," Kane wrote.
"My love and strength is with his family at this time. His words and wisdom will live on with me for the rest of my life and I’m just grateful I had the opportunity to spend time with him. RIP Prof."
Kane's fellow forward Son Heung-min also recently spoke of his great relationship with Ventrone, and the coach was seen celebrating with Son after the South Korea international's hat-trick against Leicester City. Spurs themselves, meanwhile, said in a statement: "As loveable off the pitch as he was demanding on it, Gian Piero quickly became a hugely popular figure with players and staff."
"So obviously his English is not perfect, sometimes he is coming with his phone and translating into English from Italian," Son said. "It means a lot. Not as football-wise, I think life-wise he gives me so much advice, which I am really grateful.
"He has been so helpful, giving me always a big hug in tough times and even great times he has always been next to me and every staff. Even today before we left the training ground, the hotel, we had a couple of minutes of having a nice conversation which made me really comfortable and really grateful."
