'I felt suicidal after life-saving op' - Best

Soccer legend George Best felt suicidal as he spiralled into depression following his life-saving liver transplant, he disclosed today.

But the ex-footballer said that despite losing three stone and looking “like someone out of Belsen” he now enjoyed the “silly things in life”.

He told The Mail on Sunday that he would break down “sobbing for no reason” after the operation to replace his alcohol-damaged liver six weeks ago.

“Some days I felt suicidal. It was horrendous. It wasn’t the pain or the extra days in hospital. I felt useless and wished I were dead.”

But the star said he would not have “ended it” because eventually he could “see good would come out of it”.

The 56-year-old was discharged after 18 days at London’s Cromwell Hospital but stomach pains caused by an infection meant he was back within hours.

He said it is only now, as he spends time with his wife Alex in their Surrey home, that he realises how close he was to death.

“It’s the silly little things that mean so much, like getting out and feeding the fish, sitting together and looking at brochures for a holiday home in Malta or Portugal _ or just going downstairs for a cup of tea.

“And it’s lovely waking up in the morning in your own bed next to the woman you love.”