Can said he would be forever grateful to the doctors.
Former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can has revealed that he had surgery for thyroid cancer just weeks after joining Juventus.
Can left Anfield in 2018 after failing to sign a new deal, moving to the Italian giants on a four-year deal.
In October 2018, Juventus released a statement saying that the German would be undergoing thyroid surgery and would ‘undergo clinical tests and investigations for a thyroid nodule that could also require surgical treatment’.
Can, however, has now revealed that the surgery was actually for thyroid cancer after doctors at the Serie A club picked up on the diagnosis.
“I had thyroid cancer and I needed to undergo surgery urgently,” he explained to Football Italia.
“This has changed a lot in my life. You can have a lot of money, you can have everything, but health is the most important thing.
“It’s part of life and I suggest everyone undergo screenings, it doesn’t matter how healthy one thinks he is, if you find out about these things in time, you can act.”
After returning to action in December of that year, following successful surgery, Can struggled to force his way back into the side.
He left to join Borussia Dortmund on loan in January 2020 before making the move permanent in the summer and paid tribute to the medical staff who identified the thyroid.
“I am so grateful to Juventus doctors. They called me two months after my medicals with the club,” Can said.
“I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t even know what a thyroid was and I would never imagine I had cancer.
“The move to Turin was worthy, only just for this.”
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