Daniel Nyari and his playmakers

A decade ago, a truly gifted friend of mine reminded me to understand and be grateful towards “original” art. Despite the fact that I’m not an artist, the combination of colours and its subsequent depictions had always fascinated me, even more so, when it’s related to football.

And in my search for football splendours from an off-the-pitch perspective, I stumbled upon a few illustrations of New York based Daniel Nyari, which instantly caught my attention.

His illustrations involve bold and symmetrical use of colours of top playmakers in the sport and have a unique distinction to them.

“I grew up as a big football fan. I was born into the culture and played since I can remember.

“When I didn’t play I was watching so when I started to draw it made sense to draw my footballing heroes. I also used to collect a lot of the old panini stickers and I remember trying to replicate them with my favourite players at the time. Since then it’s always been something I enjoy illustrating,” Nyari said.

An exceptionally talented artist, he has been featured in The New York Times and The Telegraph.