Carlos Tevez and the Most Tattooed Players in Football

There's no shortage of professional footballers with tattoos, but some have spent an awful lot more time under the needle than others. 

Carlos Tevez has now joined the pantheon of players with more body art than bare skin with an elaborate tableau that covers his entire back. The Argentinean revealed his new inking on Twitter, thanking the artist and describing the work as "marvellous."

Tevez's new tattoo inspires this list of players who have grand, intricate or copious amounts of body art...

Raul Meireles

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

Raul Meireles is slowly becoming more tattoo than man.

The Fenerbahce midfielder has two full sleeves, Mayan skulls on his chest and a huge dragon on his back. His latest artwork covers his entire right leg and features pictures of his wife and daughter, musical instruments and a rose design over his kneecap. 

Djibril Cisse

Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

Djibril Cisse may be a veteran who has suffered two leg breaks in his 16-year career, but the French striker is still banging them in for Bastia in Ligue 1.

The Lord of the Manor of Frodsham has as many tattoos as could possibly fit on his 6' frame, which includes more than 40 kinds of tribal designs and feline-themed prints on his upper torso. 

Cisse's lack of tattoo real estate is such an issue that he's even started inking the side of his skull.

Marcos Rojo

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Marcos Rojo is, by some distance, the most tattooed man ever to represent Manchester United.

The Argentinean defender has two full sleeves on his arm that feature plenty of religious iconography, a Copa Libertadores on his side (representing his win with Estudiantes in 2009) and the phrase "For My Family" emblazoned on his chest. 

Rojo also has the words "Pride" and "Glory" etched on his thighs, designed so that they are exposed between his shorts and socks. 

Thierry Henry

When he moved to the USA to play with the New York Red Bulls in 2010, Thierry Henry wasn't much of a tattoo guy. That, however, quickly changed during his time in MLS, as the Frenchman had two very intricate full sleeves designed by renowned New York artist Bang Bang. 

The arm designs made are predominantly made up of images from the former Arsenal star's adopted home city, with the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building all featuring.

Daniel Agger

When Daniel Agger left Liverpool over the summer, the club lost a defender who cumulatively spent days in tattoos parlours. 

The Danish star, now at Brondby, has many Nordic and Viking themed tattoos, including a very morbid graveyard scene that covers his back. It sits above three imposing Viking heads and below a Latin phrase that reads: "Death is certain, its hour is uncertain."

How cheerful!

Agger will always have a place in the hearts of  Liverpool fans thanks to his "YNWA" knuckle tattoo.

Martin Skrtel

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Despite Agger's departure, Liverpool still have a heavily tattooed defence thanks in part to Martin Skrtel.

The Slovakian star has two full sleeves, a giant angel on his back and the Latin phrase "Veni Vidi Vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") on his ribcage. 

Tim Howard

Tim Howard rarely removes his long-sleeved goalkeeper shirts on the field, so you would never know just how decorated his body was without photoshoots like his Adweek one over the summer. 

The American shot-stopper is covered in tatts that include dragons, crucifixes, the names and images of his two children, the Superman logo and various Chinese epithets. 

According to the BBC, Howard also has images of his mother and father tattooed on him, based on photos from when they were younger. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The mighty Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a mighty array of tattoo designs on his towering torso. 

The Paris Saint-Germain talisman has a red dragon and a set of playing cards on his ribcage, a dreamcatcher feather on his back, the birth dates of his parents and siblings on his wrists and various tribal designs. 

Zlatan's torso is a mish-mash of incongruous ideologies and themes, but since they lay upon the Swedish striker's skin, they are therefore the greatest tattoos known to mankind. 

Nigel De Jong

Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong had his impressive ink designed by artist Ade Itameda.

According to the BBC, the warrior-like designs are inspired by traditional Indonesian patterns, carvings and ornaments. 

Neymar

Neymar may not yet be competing with the tattoo heavyweights in world football in terms of volume, but he is definitely obsessed with body art.

The Barcelona star has tatts on his neck, chest, back and arms. Most recently, he has added an impressively realistic etching of a tiger to his right forearm, perhaps showing his love for Frosties cereal or Esso petrol stations. 

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