Former Newcastle United player Joey Barton has taken to Twitter to voice his concerns that Paul Gascoigne could be dead before the end of 2013 unless the former England star's friends give him the right support in his battle against alcoholism.
Gascoigne was admitted to an intensive care unit over the weekend after he suffered complications while receiving treatment for his addiction to alcohol in a clinic in Arizona.
The former Tottenham, Newcastle, Rangers, Everton and Lazio midfielder has battled alcoholism for large parts of his life and he was admitted to the specialist clinic following his latest relapse.
Barton has also experienced troubles related to alcoholism in the past and he today gave a grim assessment of Gascoigne's predicament on Twitter.
The alcohol abuse will kill him. The prescription drug addiction and the addiction to the limelight and not having it anymore, r major issue