Steve Bruce leads well wishes for Sir Bobby Charlton after dementia diagnosis
Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce has described Sir Bobby Charlton as "exemplary" after the England World Cup winner was diagnosed with dementia.
It comes after The Telegraph said that Charlton's wife, Lady Norma, was happy for the 83-year-old United and England great's condition to be reported.
The newspaper said Lady Norma had given the breaking of the news her "blessing", with the announcement coming two days after his club and country team-mate Nobby Stiles died after his own battle with the illness.
Newcastle boss Bruce, who spent almost a decade as a player at Old Trafford, described both Stiles and Charlton as "greats".
Bruce said: "I've had the privilege to have been in their company many, many times. The two of them are greats. The way they are as football players is one thing, but their humility, what they stood for, the way they were as individuals, Nobby and Sir Bobby were quit exemplary.
In July, Charlton's brother Jack also died, himself having previously being diagnosed with dementia.
Sir Bobby Charlton is regarded as one of England's best ever, if not the best, footballers.
A 1966 World Cup winner, he held England's goalscoring record of 49 for close to 50 years until it was broken by Wayne Rooney.
Gary Lineker, himself a scorer of 48 England goals, posted on Twitter:
Charlton's 249 Manchester United goals came across 758 games for the club, with his England total coming in 106 appearances and nearly all were from midfield.
A survivor of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958, he helped the rebuilding of the club in the wake of the tragedy and scored two goals as they beat Benfica to win the European Cup in 1968.