Monk: It's Like Losing A Brother

Swansea City captain Garry Monk has told the South Wales press how devastated everyone is following the sudden death of striker Besian Idrizaj.

The 22 year-old Austrian passed away in his sleep over the weekend at his home which left us all hugely shocked and saddened.

The club have decided to retire his number 40 shirt in memory of Besian.

Monk said:

"Everyone in the squad is stunned.

"It`s just a numb feeling. Nobody can quite believe what`s happened.

"There`s pretty much a state of disbelief right at this moment.

"We`ve always been a close-knit squad at Swansea. We are a tight family and at the moment it feels like we`ve lost a brother.

"You get close to people training and talking with them every day.

"I spoke to him after our last training session and he was looking forward to the break and pushing on next season.

"To think we won`t speak to him again is devastating for everyone.

"He joined the squad at the start of the season and settled in straight away. He was a bright lad, he was intelligent and a really nice lad.

"He always had a smile on his face and was working hard to get back to his best after a spell out of the game.

"As his confidence returned, you could see he had massive talent and potential. It`s tragic we`ll never get to see it now. But something like this goes beyond football."

"Right now it`s extremely raw. You hear of these things but normally at other clubs. To be experiencing it yourself is extremely tough.

"Right now our thoughts are with his family. Whatever we can do to comfort them, to help them and to pay tribute to Besian, we will definitely be doing.

"He was a lovely lad and he`ll always be with us in our hearts."

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.