Former West Ham winger Paulo Futre has undergone emergency surgery after suffering a heart attack at the weekend.
The former Portugal international was reportedly rushed to hospital on Sunday night after falling ill at his mother’s funeral, according to Record.
The West Ham favourite revealed the surgery went well, as Futre posted a picture on his Twitter account with a thumbs-up gesture.
Futre said: ‘Friends, thank you all for your support. I will continue to fight, there are still many games to play. A big hug.’
CM had reported from a family source that Futre had started to intensely sweat at the funeral before an ambulance was called, and it was explained that his blood pressure was low.
He was then taken to hospital where he was given a catheterization which is a procedure that drains the bladder and collects urine.
‘He (Paulo Futre) felt bad during the funeral, he started to sweat a lot and we called INEM (Portuguese emergency services), who in the first observations found that his blood pressure was very low, which is why they decided to take him to the hospital’, said a source close to Futre to CM.
The former footballer “entered the ambulance perfectly conscious” before he was transferred to a hospital on the south bank of the Tagus and later transferred to a Lisbon hospital, where the surgery was succesful.
Futre, 56, enjoyed a decorated career at several top European clubs before he joined West Ham in 1996.
He played for Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Marseille during a decorated playing career, while he also won 44 caps for Portugal.
The talented winger was once labelled the Portuguese Maradona but played just nine times for West Ham as he struggled with fitness during the latter part of his career.