Ian Rush: Liverpool icon, 64, recovering in hospital from flu

Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorer Ian Rush is recovering in hospital after spending two days in intensive care with flu.

Rush, 64, was taken into the Countess of Chester hospital last week with breathing difficulties.

A Liverpool spokesperson thanked staff at the hospital for “providing the best care possible” and said “everyone at Liverpool wishes him a speedy recovery”.

Rush spent two hugely successful spells at Liverpool either side of a stint at Juventus in the 1980s.

He scored a club-record 346 goals in 660 appearances for Liverpool, winning five First Division titles and two European Cups.

The striker, who also played for Leeds, Newcastle and Wrexham over a 22-year career, won 73 caps for Wales and was their leading scorer with 28 goals until that record was broken by Gareth Bale in 2018.

After hanging up his boots in 2000, Rush moved into management and had an eight-month spell in charge of Chester.

He currently works as an ambassador for Liverpool and regularly attends matches at Anfield.

Flu cases are soaring across the UK. An average of 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest for this time of year since records began in 2021, and up 55% on the week before, NHS England said.

Flu cases are also rising in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, figures show.