Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub-Editor: Joana Mihajlovska, Agency:  Newsflash

Diego Maradona’s nephew says the football star had lost the will to live after losing the ability to kick a football and that he did not want to be Maradona anymore but just plain old Diego.

Maradona’s nephew Johnny Esposito made the shocking statements on the Argentine television show ‘Vino para Vos’ (They came for you) broadcast by KZO.

Esposito said it was difficult for Maradona to deal with so much of the attention he got and would tell him: “I don’t want to be Maradona, I just want to be Diego for a while.

“Sometimes I would ask him ‘what would you do if you weren’t Maradona?’ and he would say ‘I would go to the supermarket’.”

The grieving nephew went on to say that he didn’t know if Maradona expected his death to occur but went on to say: “He [Maradona] didn’t want to keep on living.

“He wouldn’t let people help him. I don’t understand why he didn’t fight to live like he had fought all his life. I think it was because he couldn’t kick a ball anymore.”

Esposito added his uncle started refusing to go outdoors and would jokingly say: “I lived to be 60. That’s enough, I don’t want any more.”

He also spoke about the last moments he shared with him as he had moved into his home to help care for him.

He recalled everything was done according to routine that evening and said goodnight to Maradona at around 11pm. He later found doctors unable to resuscitate him the following day.

The Argentine legend died in his residence in the city of Tigre located in the province of Buenos Aires on Wednesday 25th November of last year.

His death is being investigated as a potential manslaughter case as Maradona’s last neurosurgeon Dr Leopoldo Luque is under official investigation.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.