Abidal befriends son of surgeon with Down's Syndrome

Barcelona full-back Eric Abidal has struck up an unlikely friendship with the son of the surgeon who recently performed a liver transplant on him, according to Sport.

The France international underwent surgery to replace the organ on April 10 with Dr. Juan Garcia Valdecasas carrying out the operation, just over a year after having a tumour removed from his liver.

Abidal is still recovering in hospital and his time there has seen him grow close to Juan Carlos, otherwise known as 'Chencho', the 20-year-old son of Dr. Valdecasas.

The former Olympique Lyonnais man regularly receives visit from Chencho, who has Down's Syndrome, and the youngster has even visited Camp Nou where he met Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Seydou Keita in the Blaugrana dressing room.