VIDEO: Edoardo Bove given hero's welcome as he returns to Fiorentina after terrifying on-field collapse that forced heart surgery

Bove suddenly collapsed 15 minutes into Fiorentina's Serie A clash with Inter on December 2, reducing worried team-mates to tears in a similar situation to that faced by Christian Eriksen at Euro 2020. A video shared by the club showed Bove's return to the Fiorentina training ground following heart surgery. Unsurprisingly, the 22-year-old was given a hero's welcome.

After the initial incident, Fiorentina shared a statement that read: "Fiorentina and the Careggi University Hospital have announced that footballer Edoardo Bove, who was treated on the pitch following a loss of consciousness during the Fiorentina v Inter match, is currently under sedation and is hospitalised in intensive care. The Viola player arrived at the emergency department in stable haemodynamic conditions and initial cardiological and neurological tests have ruled out acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardio-respiratory system. Bove will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours."

Since that statement was released, further news has emerged. The decision was taken to fit Bove with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), the same device Christian Eriksen has used since returning to football following his cardiac arrest. However, this ICD will stop the young Italian from being able to play in his native league again because of the country's sports medicine regulations on subcutaneous (under the skin) defibrillators.

Bove's visit to his team-mates came just hours after he was discharged from hospital, and the Italian still has a long road to full recovery ahead of him. If he is able to play at the top level again, part of that journey will involve finding a new club abroad as Italy's medical rules prevent him from representing either Fiorentina or his boyhood club Roma.