Back in November last year Antonio Conte left the Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy in no doubt that Gian Piero Ventrone would be coming with him as his most experienced fitness coach when he held his meetings before signing his contract to join the club.
"Then there is Gian Piero Ventrone. I had him as a fitness coach when I was a player. For me, he is the [holds his hand out] top, top physical coach. He is a great person," Conte told them.
Conte had been a Juventus player as Ventrone's cutting edge fitness methods helped the Turin-club capture trophy after trophy under Marcello Lippi and the fitness coach would then apply those methods to Lippi's World Cup-winning Italy squad in 2006.
READ MORE: Richarlison and Tottenham team post heartfelt tributes to Gian Piero Ventrone
Conte would work with Ventrone again as a young coach himself at Siena before years later bringing the renowned fitness coach with him to north London. It was a decision that would pay off handsomely for Tottenham and the players as their growing fitness saw them finish the season strongly and capture a top four spot and Champions League football.
Off the pitch he also left his mark in a big way, the players quickly growing fond of the Napoli-born fitness coach, despite what he put them through on the training pitches.
That is why the news of Ventrone's sudden passing from acute leukaemia will have left a big hole at the club. The Italian, who was set to turn 62 this December, had become unwell but the club's staff and players did not realise how serious the situation had become until they returned home to the UK this week from their Champions League match in Frankfurt and then came the shock news they woke up to on Thursday morning.
Ventrone's funeral will take place at the church of San Luigi Gonzaga in Napoli this Sunday afternoon. The church looks out over a stunning view of Vesuvius and such was the 61-year-old's impact on so many players and club staff over the years the small church is likely to be packed with those who knew him.
For Ventrone would push players to their limits and then beyond them in his jobs across the world, but he would form such close bonds with them that they would do anything for him.
The fitness coach built a reputation in Italy as one of the toughest taskmasters in the game. In a FourFourTwo feature on Zinedine Zidane, it was said that before agreeing to join Juventus in 1996, the midfielder phoned up Didier Deschamps to understand what he could expect in Turin. Among the glowing references, the now France boss mentioned the name Ventrone with dread. Zidane would soon come to understand why the Juve players referred to the fitness coach as 'Professor Marine'.
"Deschamps did tell me about the training sessions but I just didn’t believe they could be as bad as all that,” he later told the Italian media. "Often I would be at the point of vomiting by the end, because I was so tired."
Zidane would later credit his physical transformation to Ventrone and anyone who would last the distance in one of his sessions had managed something special. The coach would hang a 'bell of shame' wherever Juventus trained and it was to be rung by the first player who had to give up during the session. Ventrone would describe the bell as "a stimulus to overcome one's limits".
The fitness coach would sometimes also play music during drills, including Wagner’s iconic ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ when the exercises hit their highest intensity and Ventrone's mottos were said to be statements such as "work today to run tomorrow", "die but finish" and "victory belongs to the strong."
The legendary Italian striker Gianluca Vialli once was so angry with Ventrone after a training session, he apparently locked him in a cupboard and called the police.
At Tottenham, the images from South Korea during this summer showed Harry Kane being sick by the side of the pitch and Son Heung-min falling to his knee in exhaustion after the players had undertaken Ventrone and Conte's renowned pre-season nightmare - 42 pitch-long runs, with very brief pauses after each set of three or four - coming after an hour and a half training session - to see which of the jet-lagged stars lasted the distance at the end of their third training session in just over 24 hours.
Yet the players loved him, because for everything he put them through on the pitch - which they knew was for their benefit - Ventrone would also take a very personal interest in them and their lives, giving them little words of praise, advice and encouragement in all matters and comforting them when something had gone wrong at home or a family member had died. He was the same with both players and staff around the club, always looking to bring his experience and wisdom from having lived across Europe and Asia to any given situation.
When Son was going through his recent tough spell in front of goal, Ventrone had a little one-to-one chat with him before the match against Leicester. After the South Korean's eye-catching hat-trick, he went over at the final whistle and embraced the fitness coach by the side of the pitch for a long time.
After the game, Son explained: "I have a really, really good relationship with Gian Piero. So obviously his English is not perfect, sometimes he is coming with his phone and translating into English from Italian. 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."
In South Korea, during the club's pre-season tour, wing-back Matt Doherty, who called Ventrone an "amazing man" on Thursday, said: "It’s all love for Gian Piero, actually. Normally when you have a fitness coach like that who is running you ragged you start to not like him but that’s not the case. We all absolutely love him. We’ve got so much respect for him that we do whatever he tells us to."
Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg added: "We love him. He’s a great guy with great experience. They put us through some great work and we know we will improve and it’s fantastic. It’s nice to work hard."
Kane credits Ventrone's methods with getting him fitter than he ever has been in his career and said on Thursday on social media: "A truly remarkable man. I’m devastated by the passing of our coach Gian Piero. 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. Rest in peace Prof."
Even those who had a brief stay at Spurs with Ventrone were left touched by his impact. On-loan goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini said on his Instagram account on Thursday: "Bye teacher. Real and authentic man in a football full of fake men, it was a privilege and an honour to have met you on my journey. Have a safe trip."
Richarlison, who joined this summer and had only worked with Ventrone for four months, said: "Since I arrived at Tottenham, Gian has been a huge inspiration to me. He always said that I would help him a lot during the season, that I was a warrior and even that my hair looked like his since I dyed it white. But who helped me was him... and much more than he can imagine.
"Especially at the beginning, when he said I shouldn't lower my head under any circumstances, no matter what. Today we woke up to the terrible news of his passing and we are all devastated. But we will continue to play for you, my friend, who taught us to never give up! Thank you so much and rest in peace!"
Defender Emerson Royal said on Instagram on Thursday: "I wish I could thank you for what you did for me. I can't express in words the pain that is in my chest, you will always be our “proff”! Not just me , we are all grateful for what you did for us. The days will never be the same without your presence. Rest in peace my eternal friend."
Spurs' own statement on Ventrone's passing on Thursday said it all: "As loveable off the pitch as he was demanding on it, Gian Piero quickly became a hugely popular figure with players and staff. He will be greatly missed by everyone at the club and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this impossibly sad time."
The club's chief commercial officer Todd Kline tweeted: "Beyond sad news. GPV was a force of nature who made a positive impact on everyone he met. I will miss our conversations on the road and his contagious positive attitude. Just a phenomenal human. My thoughts are with his family and friends."
Ventrone's former club Juventus, where he worked for eight years across two spells, released a statement saying: "One of the historic names at Juventus at the turn of the century, Gian Piero Ventrone, has left us at the age of 61. Gian Piero worked as a Juventus athletic trainer, from 1994 to 1999, helping Marcello Lippi build and look after a Juve side that won everything in Italy and Europe. He returned to Turin from 2001 to 2004, enriching his, and our, trophy collection with other victories.
"He employed innovative methods in physical conditioning inspired by modern criteria, which led the way in Italy and abroad. A member of Lippi's staff when Italy won the World Cup in 2006, he continued to enrich his career, in France, China and England, where he was working before his passing. We will always remember his attention to detail, his work philosophy, and perhaps his greatest talent, the understanding that football - and especially the fundamental components of conditioning and athleticism - was gradually entering a new era. A new era that, in part, he helped write. Ciao, Gian Piero."
Conte's pre-match press conference on Thursday was understandably cancelled with such a sombre mood around the club and the Tottenham head coach having known and been so close to Ventrone for decades.
Conte was right. Ventrone was the 'top, top physical coach' and a 'great person' and his impact on and off the field at Tottenham Hotspur and everywhere he worked is going to be felt for years to come.
