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Check out these illustrations of current footballers in jobs from time gone by

Suarez as a punk? Ronaldo as a seafarer?

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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.

“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.

Here’s Emmanuel Adebayor living a life of luxury.

Would CR7 be one of the greatest seafarers of all time?

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.

Meanwhile, there is no era in which Andy Carroll is not heading a ball.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is certainly more punk than pop.

Can you see Zlatan starring in the pictures?

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.

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