Former West Ham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has announced his retirement from football at the age of 36.
The Senegal international also revealed that he had concealed health problems throughout his career, including a heart condition that caused him significant pain in certain conditions.
Kouyate said the problem was most noticeable at high altitude and in hot weather. During and after matches, he would experience intense pain that generally lasted for about five minutes.
He also suffered painful cramps after games, with the symptoms taking up to 24 hours to subside.
Despite the issue, Kouyate went on to make almost 300 Premier League appearances during a career that included spells with West Ham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
He left Nottingham Forest last year and joined Turkish club Amedspor, where he made eight appearances before ending his playing career.