Animals are beloved by the majority of the world’s population and players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all had special relationships with their pets.
With money to burn, and significant free time on their hands, it’s no surprise that elite players have invested love and resources into the upkeep of a beloved pet.
And we’ve identified eight footballers with close relationships with animals, varying from dog lovers to donkey worshippers.
Kai Havertz
“Some of my teammates call me Donkey,” Kai Havertz told The Guardian in 2023.
“From day one, I felt a special relationship with donkeys. It’s a very calm animal: maybe I personalised myself in them because I’m calm too.
“They chill all day, don’t do much, just want to live their life. I loved them always. And when I lost, I would go to the sanctuary. You look at the animals, see something human in them.
“It was a kind of recovery, a place I felt peace.”
Havertz has now the ‘Kai Havertz Stiftung’, a charity inspired by animal welfare and expanded to youth development and elderly care of humans too. Nice.
Mario Balotelli
Balotelli has always been an enigmatic character, so it should come as no surprise that he’s taken wildly varying members of the animal kingdom to heart.
Alongside a dog and a falcon, the former Manchester City firecracker adopted a micro pig simply because he could.
“Finally my little pig arrived!,” he announced on Twitter in 2013. “She is only 2 month old! Is a she but i called her SUPER! ;-).”
However, that was swiftly followed up with a tweet suggesting the matter wasn’t that clear cut: “Actually can’t find the willy so i think is a she ahahaha but maybe a he! Ahaha.”
Super was later barred entry from England when Balotelli moved to Liverpool. We’d desperately like to know she (or he) is getting on.
Finally my little pig arrived! She is only 2 month old! Is a she but i called her SUPER! 😉 pic.twitter.com/6rMaRE9wox
— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) August 9, 2013
Roy Keane
We’ve always suspected that Keane is a softie underneath the snarls and disapproval, but it turns out that only canines can activate this hidden level of his persona.
You’ll remember Triggs, the dog that became a household name following Keane’s premature exit from Ireland’s 2002 World Cup squad. “Unlike people, dogs don’t talk sh*t,” Roy said in Triggs’ slightly surreal autobiography.
Sadly, the Labrador Retriever…
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