The 59-year-old Best, who is being treated for internal bleeding, has suffered from alcoholism for many years and had a lifesaving liver transplant three years ago.
He has been in the intensive care unit for a month.
''He's been fighting for quite a while but I did get a shock,'' Dennis Law, BestÆs former Manchester United teammate, said after visiting him at the Cromwell hospital. ''The man's not looking too good.''
Law was in tears as he left the hospital.
Best was the great superstar of English soccer in the 1960s, but his career nosedived in the 1970s. He recovered to play in the North American Soccer League.
''In terms of British players, you would find it hard to think of anyone better than George Best,'' current Man. Utd. Manager Alex Ferguson said.
Drinking has always been a problem for Best, a Northern Ireland international.