Former Brighton and Hove Albion star Lars Dendoncker has been forced to retire from football at just 22 due to a heart condition.

The Belgian star took to Instagram to announce the news, where he wrote an emotional post.

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Dendoncker said: “Hi everyone, where do I start?

“As a child, I only had one dream. Become a professional football player. But my professional career and dream has come to a very early end.

“Because of my heart condition, I have decided to stop playing because of my own health.

“This was and will be the hardest decision ever in my life. But there is no going back and I have to look in the future. This will take time to process.

“I’ve learned a lot throughout the years and had to sacrifice a lot. So this really hurts.”