WORCESTER Warriors have denied Michael Fatialofa's claim the club are still to pay for his hospital medical fees.

It was feared the New Zealand-born flanker, 27, might never walk again after suffering a serious neck injury in a Premiership game against Saracens on 4 January 2020.

He tweeted Warriors had not paid his medical bills earlier today.

However, Warriors said they had paid the player's fees it was responsible for and neither the club nor Fatialofa should owe any more money. 

Fatialofa spent almost three weeks in intensive care in London following the injury before being transferred to a rehab unit at the private Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital 40 miles away in Aylesbury.

The player has since made a remarkable recovery and returned home to New Zealand. 

Fatialofa today came out on twitter, saying: 

Warriors responded in the last few minutes with a statement, saying they are "disappointed and surprised" on reading his comments and insist the club have paid the fees they were responsible for.

The statement read: "We are disappointed and surprised to read Michael’s comment on social media about outstanding hospital fees as we have heard nothing from him since he returned from New Zealand before Christmas. We will always be here to support him and are just a phone call away.

"We are all also concerned that the hospital where he was treated still seem to be contacting Michael about unpaid fees because we are also waiting on a response to our last communication with them.

"The club has already paid the fees it was responsible for, neither the club nor Michael are responsible for any additional fees.

"We invited the hospital to follow the correct procedure and claim the fees from the Clinical Commissioning Group, with our full support and thanks for the care shown to Michael. We have heard nothing back from the hospital or the CCG.

"HCR Law, our club lawyers, are on standby to protect Michael if the hospital try to claim the fees from either of us."