Former Arsenal loanee dies from a heart attack aged 46 as clubs pay tribute to the forward

A number of clubs have shared tributes after former Arsenal and Dundee forward Fabian Caballero died from a reported heart attack while playing futsal aged 46.

Caballero arrived in north London in 1998 on a loan deal from Cerro Porteno during Arsene Wenger’s third season at the Gunners.

During his sole season at the club Caballero would feature mainly for the club’s reserve side, making three appearances in all competitions for the first team.

Though his time at Highbury would prove to brief, Caballero would go on to become a cult favourite at Scottish Premier League side Dundee.

In five seasons at Dens Park he would make a total of 142 appearances, scoring 27 goals  and featuring in the side that reached the final of the Scottish Cup in the 2002-03 season.

A post on Arsenal’s X account read: ‘Everyone at the club is deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of our former player, Fabian Caballero. 

‘Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.’

Dundee wrote in a statement: ‘All at Dundee Football Club are extremely shocked and saddened this morning to learn of the passing of former Dundee player Fabián Caballero.

‘Fabian passed away at the age of 46 and will be greatly missed by everyone at Dundee Football Club. Fabián signed for The Dee in July 2000 and became a fan’s favourite amongst the Dundee supporters.

‘The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Fabian’s family at this very sad time.’

After Dundee’s relegation to the Scottish second tier in 2005, Caballero returned to Paraguay before embarking on a globetrotting spell that saw him ply his trade in South Korea, Cyprus, Chile, Greece and Guatemala.

Having moved back to Paraguay, he had a short stint as player-manager of Sportivo Ameliano before finishing his career at Recoleta in 2014.