Former Stoke City player Dionatan Teixeira has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of just 25.
Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol, the side defender joined from the Potters, confirmed the tragic news in a statement.
"A few hours ago, a good man and an excellent football player, former FC Sheriff player Dionatan Teixeira died," The Mirror quotes the club as saying.
"The Brazilian defender was only 25 years old. The whole of the club is shocked by this tragic news. The pain of loss is great. We express our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of Dionatan."
Teixeira, who is Brazilian by birth but represented Slovakia at Under-21 level, was at Stoke between 2014 and 2017, making two Premier League appearances and spending time on loan at Fleetwood Town.
The Potters paid tribute to the player on its Twitter account after the news had broken and offered condolences to his family.
The thoughts of all at #SCFC are with the family & friends of our former player Dionatan Teixeira following his untimely passing, aged 25 pic.twitter.com/5Z1xUWF48V
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) November 5, 2017
