Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has lifted the lid on the deep personal meanings behind his array of tattoos, having been 'inked' for the first time when he was around 16-years-old.
"I had my first one, the rosary, my grandma always used to buy them for me, but obviously I couldn't play with them because you cannot wear any jewellery (on the pitch). So I decided to get it tattooed. I think I was around 15 or 16 when I had it done," Bellerin told the Sun.
"Then, all of my sleeve represents my family, my little cousin, grandma, sister, my mum and dad and my grandad. Everything is all about my family."
The 21-year-old has the Arabic word for 'friend' tattooed on his right hand that he had done with a pal, and 'tato', an informal Spanish word for 'brother' that he and several other Spaniards in the Arsenal youth ranks had done.
The inspiration behind 'tato' actually comes from Bellerin's well known love of video games, particularly the Call of Duty of series.
"We were in Greece and we used to play a lot of Call of Duty, and our client tag was ˜tato'.
"So I got that in the Greek alphabet, as a reminder of our friendship. We still all keep in contact, even though we're now in different countries."
Bellerin has always stayed close to his fellow countrymen in north London and now sees left-back Nacho Monreal as his closest friend in the squad.
"My best friend at the club is probably Nacho, not only because he play in similar positions. He has given me loads of advice. We really connect outside the pitch, he's a great person," Bellerin explained.
"He is just a normal guy who happens to play football. That is what I really like about him, and what everyone really likes about him. There's so many special guys at the club. I'm together with the Spanish guys every day, not only at the training ground."
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