Former Man City and England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson says he has a year to live

Former England and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and says he has ‘at best a year to live’.

The 75-year-old who managed the national team from 2001-2006 and then City in 2007-2008 revealed the devastating news on Swedish radio station P1.

“Everyone understands I have an illness that is not good. Everyone guesses it’s cancer and it is. But, I have to fight as long as I can,” he said.

Speaking about his condition, he said he had ‘maybe at best a year, at worst even less, or in the best case I suppose even longer’ adding that doctors ‘can’t put a day on it’.

Eriksson shared with listeners that he was given the diagnosis after he collapsed and fainted while out on a run.

“It just came from nothing,” he added. And said that ‘makes you shocked’.

Speculation about Eriksson’s health grew after he resigned from his post as sporting director of Karlstad in his home country. The full diagnosis came a short while after, as doctors told him he had also suffered a stroke.

He said: “It’s better not to think about it. You have to trick your brain. I could go around thinking about that all the time and sit at home and be miserable and think I’m unlucky and so on.

“It’s easy to end up in that position. But no, see the positive sides of things and don’t bury yourself in setbacks, because this is the biggest setback of them all of course.”

As England boss Eriksson led the team to three consecutive quarter-finals at major tournaments, including a 5-1 win over Germany, in Munich in September 2001.

He joined City on a two-year deal in July 2007 and was named Premier League Manager of the Month in the August after a strong run of games, including a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.