Joe Hart has explained the meaning behind his eye-catching tattoos which serve as his "armour".
The former Manchester City and England goalkeeper has multiple tattoos on his body, including his arms, shoulders and legs.
Many are on show when Hart wears a short-sleeve shirt while on punditry duties for the likes of BBC and TNT Sports.
They became a huge talking point at Euro 2024 when Hart worked for the BBC in Germany, with the fully blacked-out ink immediately attracting attention from viewers.
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Hart matched the blackwork on his upper body to his leg a few years back, praising his tattoo artist in an Instagram post where he acknowledged the ink was "not everyone's taste".
The two-time Premier League winner wrote: “You are the man @hanumantra thank you, this is the only time of year I could take this on so I appreciate you fitting me in and smashing it.
“I got my armour on now... let's see what's next. Not everyone's taste I understand that but this definitely represents me and thank you for making it happen.”
On his website, tattoo artist Hanumatra Lemar said that the specific ink is "a lifestyle and it's a philosophy and helps create "a modern day warrior ready for today's battles".
On his right-side, Hart has a blacked out section on his shoulder as well as two black hoops on different areas. He also has similar designs near his ankle and on his thigh and more subtle black band work on his left wrist.
In an interview with SPORTbible, Hart explained the power and strength that he feels from his tattoos.
“It started off as just a very thin band and then I moved to Italy and I've seen the kind of band work and the black work and then a friend in Shrewsbury who does it and it just really appealed to me," the TNT Sports pundit said.
“It doesn't actually mean anything, but I saw it as my armour. I love wearing it.
“It encourages me to stay fit and healthy and strong. Because a lot of people, it's not for them, but for me to think they look at their best, is when I look healthy, strong, aggressive.
“And it was kind of like my right hand side was very aggressive and on the left hand side I've got some more meaningful things in terms of family.
“So there's definitely two sides to me and I feel like that was a good representation.”
Hart's one-off role at former club
Hart recently made a one-off return to former club Shrewsbury Town last week, filling in as a temporary goalkeeping coach for their 2-1 win over Salford City.
It came about as a result of his friendship with new manager Gavin Cowan but without an interest in returning to the game in a full-time capacity as an "everyday world", he did it as a one-time favour when the stars aligned.
Speaking on his one-game deal, Hart said: "The goalkeeper coach left and they didn't have the finances or didn't have the power to bring someone in permanently yet.
"So we were just trying to get match day goalkeepers, I was trying to help my friends to organise that.
“And I said, ‘Look if I am available on a night and you need me I can do that’ - but just understanding that it would be a one night and one night only kind of thing whilst you get on your feet.
“The stars aligned, I could do Salford, we didn't say anything because the club and the team were doing really well.
“So I just warmed the goalies up, did my best to help them and left them to it.”
He continued: "I was really nervous for the team because I didn't want to take anything away from what they were doing. And obviously it's super serious, they're in a relegation battle at the bottom of League two.
“I think Gavin Cowan handled it really well, the club handled it really well. I was literally just looking after friends and trying to help the goalkeepers because sometimes you have to get warmed up by the kit man or whatever.
“I wanted to just give them a bit of quality, get them as set as I possibly could and then leave them to it.
“They've got the goalie coach now so they've got the full backroom stuff sorted.”
Topics: Joe Hart, Manchester City, England, Spotlight
Josh Lawless