Chess player Salah, writer Walcott and winemaker Pirlo. The most unusual hobbies of football players

Mo Salah recently said that he is a chess fan and plays online every day. The Egyptian declares that “he is good” and also dreams of fighting Magnus Carlsen. We searched and found several more unexpected hobbies of football players.

🎣 Phil Foden is a passionate fisherman. In 2018, the Man City player missed the celebration of his first championship because... he had already agreed to go fishing with his father! Fortunately, the “townspeople” have plenty of reasons to party, and Phil has already more than made up for lost time.

✖️ Multiplying two-digit numbers in the mind is Manuel Akanji’s strong point. The Swiss has been fascinated by mathematical problems since childhood. In one interview, he was asked to count 23x42 and 26x77 - it took Manu 2 seconds to answer correctly.

🐟 Matt Oakley collects red-bellied piranhas. Matt didn’t manage to stand out with his career, but he made up for it with his hobby. Oakley keeps predatory fish at home: he says he is not interested in ordinary ones.

🍷 Andrea Pirlo is engaged in winemaking. The maestro has several plantations in Brescia and produces about 20 thousand bottles a year there.

🐔 Joe Allen saves chickens. A Welshman has birds that were supposed to be sent to slaughter. One day, Joe even appeared on the cover of Chicken&Egg magazine, and as a present for his 24th birthday, he received a rooster named Bruce from his wife.

📚 Theo Walcott writes books for children. Already at 21, he published 4 works about TJ (Theo’s nickname at school), who takes his first steps in football. Critics noted Walcott's literary talent, and the series of books also reached ordinary readers.

🖋 Former Liverpool center back Daniel Agger is a tattoo artist. Just 10 years ago, the Dane was considered the most “downtrodden” football player in the world, and later he began tattooing others and even opened his own salon.

🐴 Thomas Müller is crazy about horses - he even has a plant for inseminating them. In 2022, the German was asked if he was ready to “feed passes” to Erling Haaland if he moved to Bayern. Thomas snapped: “I prefer to feed my rabbits and horses.”

🎾 Hatem Ben Arfa transformed into a padel tennis player. The Frenchman has not appeared on the football field for a year, but he takes to the court almost every day. Moreover, Hatem is already in the top 1500 in the world in the new sport.

What fact surprised you the most?