Former Premier League star, Ivan Klasnic has been awarded £3.6million for serious kidney damage suffered while playing Bundesliga side Werder Bremen after a legal battle lasting over a decade.

The former Bolton Wanderers striker, who retired in 2013, first suffered kidney failure back in 2006 while playing for Bremen. He has since undergone three kidney transplants, most recently in 2017 after falling seriously ill.

Klasnic’s legal team had argued that his already weakened kidneys suffered further damage by the use of painkillers from the Bundesliga club’s doctors.

The ex-Croatia international, 40, had already undergone two transplants before moving to Bolton in 2009 but managed to play three years in the Premier League before his retirement.

Klasnic was previously awarded €100,000 in damages from Bremen but lawyers took the case to a higher court to secure him a much higher pay-out.

His lawyer, Matthias Teichner said: “No money in the world can make up for the considerable and permanent damage to my client’s health [but this is] more suitable to create a feeling of justice.

“At least the doctors were now ready to express their regret about the incidents. In my opinion, this was long overdue.”

Klasnic scored 24 goals in 77 games for Bolton between 2009 and 2012. He became the first-ever player to play in a major international tournament with a replacement kidney when Slaven Bilic picked him to play for Croatia at Euro 2008.