As the final whistle blows on Real Madrid’s pre-season US tour, which ended with a 2-1 win against Chelsea, let’s take a moment to admire the players’ body art.
On the spectrum of Real Madrid player tattoos, from tattoo-covered David Beckham (who's arguably spearheaded this “cool” modern footballer tattoo thing since 1999) to the completely untattooed Cristiano Ronaldo (so he can give blood) in previous eras, the current crop of European Champions run the whole gamut. Elaborate body ink is one way of dropping serious coin, especially for athletes with a seemingly high pain threshold and many special moments and trophy highs that they’d like to commemorate permanently.
Dani Ceballos, Rodrygo, Éder Militão, Vinicius Jr. and others have definitely followed Beckham’s lead in terms of using their skin as a canvas, because why buy art when you can wear it? What’s particularly interesting is the range of placements. A muscular bicep, thigh, or calf means those tattoos were done to be seen (and judged) in public, rather than hidden beneath a jersey. Especially now shorts are being hiked up higher and shin guards are sometimes eschewed all together. There is a distinct lack of colour, too, which really allows the designs to pop against any skin tone. More tattoos may appear should Los Blancos beat Europa League winners Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup next week to cap an incredible 2023/24 season.
Scroll through the best tattoos we captured while we were on Real Madrid's 2024 pre-season tour to Chicago, New Jersey, and Charlotte.
Photography Sharon Lopez
