Nico Hidalgo, a former midfielder who played for Juventus and Cadiz before retiring in 2022, passed away at the age of 32 following a fight with lung cancer and bone metastases.
Before joining Granada’s B team in 2021, Hidalgo, who was born and bred in Motril, in the province of Granada, played for the local club. In the summer of 2014, he was offered a transfer to Juventus, but he was unable to play for the Old Lady at the senior level.
Before signing a permanent contract with Cadiz in 2017, he underwent loan stints during his three-year stay in Italy, including one return to Granada B. Prior to joining Racing Santander, Hidalgo made 42 appearances for Spain’s second division team.
He joined the now-defunct Extremadura in 2020 after making 73 appearances for Racing Santander. He played 23 games for the team, recording one goal and one assist each.
Unfortunately, after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis in 2021, the attacking right-sided midfielder was forced to retire in January. He had to stop playing because he had bone metastases, which is when cancer spreads from another region of the body to the bones.
Sad news as Nico Hidalgo has sadly passed away at the age of 32.
The former midfielder was suffering lung cancer with bone metastasis, reports @TheAthleticFC.
RIP, Hidalgo. 🙏❤️😔 pic.twitter.com/gVUNAsva0M
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 1, 2025
Cadiz led the tributes on X (previously Twitter) with a sincere message for their former player. “Nico Hidalgo has left us,” they wrote. We shall always remember your excitement and grin. Our example is your battle. May you rest in peace.
As previously said, Extremadura offered their warmest regards to his family even though they were no longer a team. They wrote: “We learnt this morning that Nico Hidalgo, a former football player for Extremadura UD, had passed away at the age of 32 from lung cancer, a disease he had been battling since 2021.”
Our sincere sympathies go out to his family and friends from [everyone at] CD Extremadura. We wish them courage and kindness throughout these trying times.
⚫️ Esta mañana nos hemos despertado con la triste noticia del fallecimiento de Nico Hidalgo, exfutbolista del Extremadura UD, a los 32 años de edad a causa de un cáncer de pulmón contra el que luchaba desde 2021.
Desde el CD Extremadura, queremos expresar nuestro más sentido… pic.twitter.com/tDNeDgFlh6
— CD EXTREMADURA (@CDExt1924) March 1, 2025
A minute’s silence in memory of the late Hidalgo will be observed prior to Racing Santander’s Segunda Division match against Elche on Sunday night, the team announced in a post on their official website.
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