What would Cristiano Ronaldo do if he wasn’t a footballer, and if he was born in a different era? Thanks to illustrator Dan Leydon, it’s not hard to imagine.
The three-time BT Sport Champions Draw winner is well known in the football illustration scene for his easily identifiable style and striking concept art, and his latest project is no different.
Taking some of football’s modern greats and illustrating them in bygone eras, Dan has allowed fans of the beautiful game to let their imaginations run wild by giving players such as Lionel Messi alternative career paths.
We all know the age old debate about whether players could cut it in different eras. It got me thinking, not about how they could cope but how they'd look & what if some of them got bored and got new jobs? Messi as an explorer for the Argentinian Federation of Adventure… pic.twitter.com/dxUGvFpU55
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
“Writing was always a compulsion for me until I started seriously pursuing illustration. From then on, I’ve tried to find ways to merge the two,” Dan told the Press Association.
“With these images I wanted to develop an expanded world based on the player personalities everyone is familiar with. My own Marvel cinematic universe. I’m always developing stories and fun new ways to present artwork and this is one of many experiments.”
Harry Kane as an RAF pilot is a stunning shout, for example.
Harry Kane as a pilot in the RAF. For Queen and Country! pic.twitter.com/1DQFdaprie
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Here’s Emmanuel Adebayor living a life of luxury.
Emmanuel Adebayor as a high society Parisian aristocrat, lounging around all day dining on soft cheese and the finer things in life. pic.twitter.com/9nCOxdYNZB
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Would CR7 be one of the greatest seafarers of all time?
Cristiano Ronaldo as a Madeiran seafarer fueled by the need to break all Magellan's nautical records. pic.twitter.com/g4RazZXThv
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Some footballers, however, were born to play the game no matter what era they were born in. Steven Gerrard, pipe in mouth, continues to burst from midfield.
Steven Gerrard in his element swerving up and down a muddy pitch in the heady days of kick and rush football. Tac-tics?! Sounds like a load of hogwash to me old boy! pic.twitter.com/cMzuuFe0CE
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Meanwhile, there is no era in which Andy Carroll is not heading a ball.
Andy Carroll in his natural habitat as a target man in 1970s English football. pic.twitter.com/5imTGFMTf3
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is certainly more punk than pop.
Luis Suarez embracing his anti-establishment Punk soul and hanging about street corners with a safety pin through his eyebrow. pic.twitter.com/fWc0WojfN4
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
Can you see Zlatan starring in the pictures?
Zlatan starring in 70s Hong Kong Kung Fu films. If anything ever made sense… pic.twitter.com/O0By7F5BQX
— Dan Leydon 🎨 (@danleydon) July 19, 2018
As for the future, Dan said: “I think presenting icons like (Johan) Cruyff and (Diego) Maradona in the next batch could be interesting. I’ve already got some ideas.”
You heard the man. Watch out for Maradona as an Instagram influencer and Cruyff as a YouTuber in the near future.
To see more of Dan’s work, you can visit his website here or his Instagram here.