Arsenal defender Armand Traore is to go under the knife at the end of the season to have his tattoos surgically removed.
The left-back, who is set to become a regular in the Gunners' back line with with Gael Clichy and his deputy Kieran Gibbs both facing lengthy spells on the sidelines, says religion is behind the move.
The 20-year-old has fully embraced the Muslim faith, which forbids permanent changes to the body.
Traore said: "I'm planning to do this in the summer. They'll put me under anesthetic and then do it all, and when I wake up everything will be gone.
It needs a bit of recovery time though so I'm not going to do it during the football season.
"If I had been into my religion properly before I'd had the tattoos done, I think I would never have got them. I think it's one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my life but I will try and correct it."
Traore shot to prominence during Arsenal's run to the 2007 Carling Cup final and he says his faith helps him cope with the demands of being a top-flight footballer.
"My religion has benefits both personally and in my career," Traore explained.
"It's all about many of the things that are good in football too - like resting, doing everything right, being nice to people, respecting, not swearing or lying, being fair.
"I've always been Muslim but I wasn't really practicing it, I was just saying to people that I was Muslim. I don't know what made me change - it was just slowly, slowly, a gradual development."
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