Football hero 'to make full recovery'

John Charles was about to appear on Italian TV when he was taken ill

The surgeon who carried out emergency surgery on John Charles says he is confident the Welsh football legend will make a full recovery.

The former Leeds, Juventus, Swansea and Cardiff striker underwent a two-hour heart operation at Milan's San Carlo Borromeo hospital a week ago.

Charles, 72, had been taken ill as he was about to appear on an Italian TV sports programme.

Despite further complications - Charles had a second operation to remove a blood clot in his leg - Professor Piergiorgio Settembrini, said he was confident Charles would "make a full recovery in the next two weeks."

"He was in a bad condition when he arrived here because the clot was enlarging quickly and had nearly cut off the blood supply," said the professor.

Italian fans labelled Charles the Gentle Giant

"But we're confident he'll make a full recovery in the next two weeks."

The footballing hero was now in a stable condition, and "improving a little bit every day".

Charles, who published his autobiography last summer, had been on a promotional tour of Italy when he was first taken ill on 4 January.

He had been due to be reunited with his former strike partner at Juventus, Omar Sivori, and appear on a television show together.

Originally from Cwmdu near Swansea, Charles transferred to the Italian side in 1957, after first making his name with Leeds United.

He scored 93 goals in 155 league appearances with the Italian club and helped them win three league titles.

His 6ft 2in, 14 stone frame won him the affectionate title 'Il Bon Gigante' or Gentle Giant with the Italian fans.

The player also had 38 caps for his own country and took part in the 1958 World Cup.

More recently he has had to cope with two serious illness - blood cancer and a tumour of the bladder.