Shock reports have emerged suggesting that Atalanta star Josip Ilicic is considering retirement from football after he found out his wife cheated on him.
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The 32-year-old has enjoyed his best season to date as a professional at the highest level, having struck 21 goals and assisted a further nine strikes in 34 games so far in this campaign.
However, the Slovenian went through some personal issues in July, resulting in the attacker reporting to training at Atalanta having lost a lot of weight and in a bad headspace.
While it was never reported as to what the issues were, it has since been reported that Illic was hit with a big fear of death in recent months due to the coronavirus outbreak, while it is also believed that he found out his wife was seeing another man back in his home country.
According to Soccer24, the Serie A star made a trip home to surprise his partner, only to find her in bed with another man. It is claimed Illic has been depressed since the incident, and is said to be seriously considering retiring from football.
Following an excellent season pre-lockdown, the player made five appearances after football in Italy resumed, but failed to complete 90 minutes in any of those matches. Furthermore, he has not scored or assisted since the beautiful game was brough to a halt.
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The club granted Illic special leave ahead of their league match against Brescia last month, and the player is reportedly likely to miss his side's UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday.
Are you hoping to see Illic back in action soon? Let us know in the comments section below.