Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Saponara produced an emotional tribute to Davide Astori after the death of La Viola’s captain.
Astori, 31, was found dead in his hotel room prior to Sunday’s match against Udinese.
Results of an autopsy are yet to be revealed, though Udine’s public prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo said on Sunday it was likely Astori “died of cardiac arrest by natural causes”.
Tributes have poured in from across world football following the centre-back’s passing and Saponara, a team-mate of Astori’s since the start of the season, penned a particularly moving message.
Using his official Instagram account, Saponara wrote: “O captain, my captain. Why did you not come down to have breakfast with us all? Why did you not pick up your shoes from outside of Marco [Sportiello]’s room and then drink your orange juice, as usual?
“Now they’ll tell us that life goes on, that we must look forward and pick ourselves up, but what will your absence taste like? Who will arrive every morning in the cafeteria, warming up everyone with his smile?
“Who will ask us about what we did the previous night and have a laugh about it? Who will nurture the youngsters and give a sense of responsibility to the veterans? Who will form the circle to work on our ‘two-touch play’ and who will demolish Marco on the PlayStation?
“With whom will we debate about Masterchef, Florence’s restaurants, TV series or games played? Who will I lean on at lunch after a tiring training session? Come on, come back. You still need to finish watching LaLaLand to analyse like you did with all new movies.
“Come back to Florence, they’re waiting for you to renew your contract and acknowledge all the good and the positivity that you bring to us on a daily basis. Get out of that damn room, we’ll be waiting for you tomorrow at training
“In life there are people you’ve known forever but have never bonded with, and then there are the ‘Davides’, who warm to you immediately with a simple ‘welcome to Florence, Ricky’.
“Wherever you are now, keep on defending our goal and enlighten the right path for us from the backline.
“Oh captain, my captain. Forever, my captain.”
