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Cahill: Ryan Mason retirement is heart-breaking

It was a clash of heads with the Chelsea defender that left Ryan Mason with a fractured skull and forced him to retire a year later

Learning of Ryan Mason's premature retirement on Tuesday due to a head injury suffered in January 2017 was "heart-breaking" for Chelsea defender Gary Cahill.

Mason clashed heads with Cahill in a match at Stamford Bridge early last year and fractured his skull in the incident.

The midfielder was initially expected to return to football, but recent scans showed the injury to be even more significant than originally feared.

As a result, Mason announced his retirement on Tuesday at the age of 26 to an outpouring of tributes and well wishes from across English football.