Tottenham and England great Greaves in hospital

But there was no mention in their brief statement of whether the former striker was suffering from the coronavirus, or indeed the exact nature of the 80-year-old’s current condition.

“We can confirm that our record goalscorer Jimmy Greaves is currently being treated in hospital,” said a statement on Spurs’ official Twitter feed.

“We are in touch with his family and will provide further updates in due course. Everybody at the club sends their best wishes to Jimmy and his family.”

Greaves is understood to have been in poor health since suffering a stroke nearly five years ago.

A prolific goalscorer throughout his career, Greaves also played for Chelsea and West Ham, but his greatest success came at Tottenham during a golden era for the London side that saw him score a club record 266 goals in 379 matches from 1961-70.

For decades Greaves held the record for most goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues, his tally of 366 goals in 528 appearances during a career that also included a spell at Italy’s AC Milan only broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.

Greaves was equally prolific at international level, scoring 44 goals in just 57 appearances for England.

He was a member of the England squad that won the 1966 World Cup on home soil but an injury in a group game against France cost him his place in the side and paved the way for his replacement, Geoff Hurst, to score a hat-trick in the final against West Germany.

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