Best football tattoo? Nicolas Otamendi's incredible Breaking Bad & Peaky Blinders design

Nicolas Otamendi loves a tattoo.

Like many top-class footballers and people in general, the Benfica defender likes to express sides to his personality and passions by way of his appearance.

Otamendi cuts an instantly-recognisable figure in the beautiful game with his muscly physique, finely-groomed beard and, of course, his tattoos practically feeling like trademarks at this point.

And it’s in those permanent, inked illustrations on Otamendi’s body that you can see some of the finest examples of tattoos that we’ve ever seen on a footballer.

From deeply personal tattoos that have great meaning to him and his family to interesting designs that he just happens to fancy, Otamendi certainly has a passion for the popular body art.

Speaking to the Independent in 2016, Otamendi explained: “I started to let the beard grow at Valencia and I just liked it, so since then, it has become a big part of my personality, just like those tattoos.

“People always ask me about them. I had my first done when I was 14 and each one has some significance to it. My brother and my children are on there, and the face of my grandfather too. Most are personal, but if I see a design which catches my eye, I will go for it.

“At the moment there is one I am looking at which will be football related, but I need to find the correct place to have it on my body.”

But of all the tattoos that Otamendi has shown off on a football pitch, there are perhaps none that can possibly compare to the pop-culture-related masterpiece on the upper half of his back.

In 2019, the former Manchester City man went viral for displaying a large tattoo that featured illustrations from the television shows Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders and Vikings.

There are no less than two images