The death of an Italian football star who fell into a canal during a holiday in Amsterdam with a group of friends is being investigated by Dutch police.

ASD Piccardo Traversetolo captain Gabriele Gallani – nicknamed ‘Gallo’ by fans – was pulled from the canal after a friend raised the alarm on the night of Friday, 19th to Saturday, 20th May.

But the 24-year-old footballer from Neviano degli Arduini, a comune in the Province of Parma in the northern Italian region Emilia-Romagna, died in hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Gallani had reportedly been on holiday with a group of eight pals who had split up to try the nightlife in different parts of the city that evening.

One pal who was with the star – named in Italian media as Luca Ugolotti – told how he saw him suddenly fall into the water.

He said: “Then I called for help.”

Police divers pulled Gallani – who had a degree in management engineering and had interned at Lamborghini – from the water and took him to hospital.

Investigators say he died just hours later and have appealed for witnesses and anyone with video footage of the fall to come forward.

Gallani had been due to fly home the day he died to play for his side in a promotional struggle match the following day (21st May).

His club said in a statement on 20th May, obtained by Newsflash: “Difficult to find the words for what happened, maybe the right ones are CIAO and THANK YOU but we don’t know.”

They added: “You arrived when you were a kid and you became our pillar, the only thing we can do right now is keep your memory alive within us.

“We don’t have anything else to add at the moment. Ciao Gallo.”