Former Leeds United defender vows to support Sol Bamba after cancer diagnosis, expects footballing world to provide backing

Cardiff City announced last week that 36-year-old Bamba, a former Leeds United captain, had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has started chemotherapy.

Matteo doesn’t know Bamba, who made 51 Championship appearances for the Whites, but believes the same backing he has received from the footballing world since undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumour will be vital.

“I was so sorry to hear the news about Sol,” said the ex Liverpool and Leeds centre-half.

“He’s been a good player, a good servant for all his clubs and seems to have been well liked.

“When you get a diagnosis, similar to myself, it’s about your coping mechanisms now, your friends, your family, football people coming together and trying to help you. That’s what we all need.

“I’ve had support, people have been to see me and it has really helped me. I’m sure Sol will receive a lot of support.”

Matteo wants to be part of that support, when the time is right.

“At some point I’ll try to reach out to Sol,” he told the YEP.

“I don’t know him personally but he’s on my mind. When I first heard the news I was really upset. You want to reach out but having been in the situation sometimes it’s best just to wait, let him focus on these couple of months and then see if you can help in some way.

“I’ve been speaking to quite a lot of people in Leeds and the surrounding areas and tried to give them some advice on what I went through and how I dealt with it. It would be nice to touch base with him and see how he’s doing.”

Bamba said this week that he’s trying to remain positive and mentally strong and Matteo believes that will be key.

So too is opening up to the people around him.

“For Sol it’s about positivity, the mental side of it, being open about it with people, not being afraid to speak out,” he said.

“I’ve got plenty of people Sol could touch base with, I speak to people on a regular basis with brain tumours, a lot of them in sport as well.

“It’s so important to talk about it and for me family was huge, too. We all wants best for us and our families. I have my missus and kids as a priority, that’s how I approach it because anything that helps them will help me.”

Bamba told talkSport this week that the support he has been shown has helped.

“I started chemo two days and had a couple of difficult days,” he said.

“I know there’s going to be days where I feel bad and be down, but I just have to go through it with the support of my family.

“I’m a positive person and I always try and see the positive side. As the doctors said to me, mentally you have to be strong.

“There’s a lot of negative things that come with it so it’s not easy to go through it, but I have to say the support from my whole family and football fans across the world has been incredible and that has given me the strength to go through it.”