Nico Hidalgo dies aged 32 as tributes paid to tragic ex-Juventus footballer

Former Spanish star Nico Hidalgo has died at the aged 32 after losing his lengthy battle with lung cancer. Hidalgo began his career with his local team Motril CF, where he made 40 appearances before joining Granada in 2012. He moved to Italian giants Juve in 2014 but failed make a single appearance for the Italian giants during his three year spell in Turin.

He returned to Spain permanently in the summer of 2017 following loan spells with Granada and Cadiz. The defender closed out his career with stints with Racing Santander and Extremadura, who no longer exist, before retiring after learning of his diagnosis. Tributes have poured in for the former Juventus academy star with former club Cadiz saying: 'Nico Hidalgo has left us.



We will never forget your smile and your joy. Your struggle is our example. Rest in peace" Racing Santandar also paid tribute to their former midfielder and they will honour him with a minute's silence ahead of their La Liga clash with Elche on Sunday.

A club statement read: "Real Racing Club regrets the death of its former footballer Nico Hidalgo , who played 73 official matches with the green and white shirt between 2018 and 2020. "The Cantabrian club joins in the pain of his family and friends for this irreparable loss, while sending its most sincere condolences and announcing that it will observe a minute of silence in his memory before the LaLiga Hypermotion match that its first team will play against Elche CF at the Campos de Sport tomorrow Sunday, March 2, at 9:00 p.m.

" Extremadura said in their tribute: "This morning we woke up to the sad news of the death of Nico Hidalgo, former Extremadura UD footballer, at the age of 32 due to lung cancer which he had been fighting since 2021. "From [everyone at] CD Extremadura, we would like to express our deepest condolences to his family and friends. We send them all our love and strength in these difficult times.

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