NOT many can say they are the personal artist to Real Madrid’s elite.
And only one can say that they all love his incredible statues that pay homage to Disney favourite, Mickey Mouse.
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Former footballer Juan Pablo Restrepo Mejia has become the go-to sculptor for Real Madrid’s starsCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
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Luka Modric is just one of the stars who has commissioned Juan Pablo Restrepo MejiaCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
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Boxing legend Canelo Alvarez is also a clientCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
Colombian artist Juan Pablo Restrepo Mejía is making a killing from his sculptures that start at around £8,000.
Luka Modric, Antonio Rudiger and Federico Valverde are just some of the Los Blancos stars who have commissioned Juan Pablo to create art work for them.
While boxing legend Canelo Alvarez wanted a gold-plated piece for his Mexican home.
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It was a journey that stemmed from his artistic background, athough he could have taken a different journey.
How we got here
Juan Pablo played football in his homeland, alongside James Rodriguez and Juan Fernando Quintero at Envigado’s youth teams.
But he was at university when he realised his calling in a discussion with his professor, who asked him what he wanted to do.
He revealed he didn’t want to follow a career in his chosen degree of civil engineering.
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Instead, he wanted to be an artist. It was something Juan Pablo had grown up around all his life – coming from a family of painters who taught him the way.
He told Marca: “I learned to wash brushes, the best classical and abstract techniques, sculpture, from framing a frame, painting it, sanding, filling a background.”
First footballer who bought from him
Marcos Llorente takes delivery of a gold Mickey Mouse statue from Juan Pablo Restrepo Mejia
Spain international and Real Madrid left-back Fran Garcia was the first LaLiga star to show an interest in Juan Pablo’s work.
Then Marcos Llorente asked the sculptor to create a piece to sit in the entrance of his home.
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It was through Llorente, who has since established his name at Real’s cross town rivals Atletico, that Juan Pablo became Real Madrid’s artist in residence.
“He’s a great brother, he was the link that brought us closer to the rest of the boys on his team,” he said.
Soon, after seeing the art at the club’s Valdebebas training ground, everyone wanted a piece – with prices starting at around the £8,000 mark.
“He showed them the work he had done and we ended up getting to Luka Modric, who is one of my idols,” Juan Pablo continued.
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” Luka, (Andriy) Lunin, (Federico) Valverde, Lucas Vázquez, (Antonio) Rüdiger, they all have a piece of work.
“I made sure their work was very personal, I chose the colours for each one that they most identified with.”
Amusingly, when France midfielder Eduardo Camavinga saw Fran Garcia’s art work at the training ground, he wanted one too… but, he had one hilarious request.
Camavinga was passing by and said, ‘Wow! What is that? Fran García’s. I want one too, but I want it to be super colourful. Mine has to be the most colorful of all,” Juan Pablo laughed.
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Marcos Llorente, formerly of Real Madrid, was the sculptor’s first clientsCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
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Federico Valverde shows off the piece he commissionedCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
Players have to be patient for the pieces
Juan Pablo is inspired by Mickey Mouse and has created versions of Pinocchio too.
He began painting, but soon became intrigued with the idea of sculpting.
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However, footballers expecting a quick turnaround on their orders will be disappointed.
“The manufacturing time depends a lot on the material. I work with bronze, carbon fibre and resin,” he said.
“In bronze it takes me three months.”
The more colourful pieces can take up to years to create. Juan Pablo explained: “The creation of the work, the idea as such, takes me about two and a half years.
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“Camavinga will have to wait six months or so. But I already told him and he told me ‘I wait, but colourful, colourful.’”
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The art pays homage to Mickey Mouse and starts at around £8,000
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Fran Garcia signs a shirt for Juan Pablo after receiving his piece
In terms of Walt Disney’s royalties for his work, Juan Pablo revealed: “Each country can have a permit with the brand. They didn’t know it was going to be scaled that way, but I did the right things and I have the brand’s permit.”
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And that’s not all…
Alongside his work for football’s elite, Juan Pablo can also count Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez as one of his clients.
His work with Alvarez also led him to work with the WBA, who Juan Pablo is now the official artist for.
“Every time there is a world champion they use one of my pieces to give them a detail and I am also in charge of making the legendary belts of the boxing organisation,” Juan Pablo revealed.
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Canelo Alvarez shows off his stunning gold plated artworkCredit: Instagram @juanpablorestrepomejia
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Canelo has invited Juan Pablo to his home to decorate his Mexico ranch
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Juan Pablo has since become a celebrity in his Colombian homeland
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Canelo has even invited his new favourite artist round to his ranch in Mexico to decorate parts of his home.
It is thought Watson played a role in the recruitment of Duff, who was sacked in December following a run of just five wins in 19 league games.
Alan Sheehan took over as caretaker prior to the permanent appointment of current head coach Luke Williams in January.
Watson was among those criticised for the club’s transfer activity during the 2023 summer transfer window – with few of Swansea’s signings impressing and many deemed not suited to the club’s preferred style of play.
The transfer business occurred despite Watson later claiming the recruitment structure at the club was not up to the required standard upon his arrival in south Wales.
“There wasn’t a single person in the building, so the recruitment over the past few years, prior to us coming in, was almost on a whim. That couldn’t last.”
The sporting director angered some Swansea supporters after being pictured with former Luton boss Nathan Jones – a known Cardiff City fan – during the club’s 5-0 FA Cup fourth round defeat by Bournemouth in January.
“When I went to an away game, they put our seats together because they knew we’d worked together. On reflection, I apologise. It won’t happen again. I certainly didn’t mean to offend the fans.”
There have been further concerns regarding the club’s transfer strategy given that Williams’ squad has been left short in areas following the exits of 13 players, and a further four fringe first-team players, over the summer, with only eight coming in, two of which were goalkeepers.
The latest pay-per-view event for the UFC hosted a pair of title fights, producing a new two-time champion.
In the main event of UFC 307, Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title by stopping Khalil Rountree in a Fight of the Night battle. Pereira is already No. 1 in his division and in the P4P rankings, so he has nowhere to move. However, Rountree, even in a loss, moves up a few spots due to his stellar performance, moving from No. 12 to No. 10.
A RACING venue visited by Queen Elizabeth II has closed its doors to the public for a final time.
The Kranji racecourse was home to the historic Singapore Turf Club.
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The Singapore Turf Club moved to Kranji in 2000Credit: Getty
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The venue closed its doors for the final time on SaturdayCredit: Getty
Her Majesty, who was a huge racing fan, twice visited the historic club.
She first went there in 1972, before visiting again in 2006 alongside husband Prince Philip, following the club’s move to Kranji.
The Singapore Turf Club was formed in 1842, and previously attracted huge crowds.
It moved to Kranji in 2000, with its first race there bringing in 30,000 punters.
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Those numbers haven’t been seen at the track for several years, however, and even its final meet on Saturday attracted a comparatively meagre 10,000 spectators.
Due to small attendances, the club struggled to attract sponsors in its final years.
In 2023 it was announced that the 127-hectare site would be turned into affordable housing.
Around 700 racing horses previously resided in Singapore, although that number is now believed to have fallen to 240 – with many having moved to nearby Malaysia.
Horse owner Eric Koh was in a sombre mood ahead of Saturday’s final meet at Kranji.
Jockey, 23, ‘airlifted to hospital with critical injuries’ after horse suffers heart attack mid-race
He told Channel News Asia: “There’ll be guests who will be very excited and will be out there for a fun day out.
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“But to a lot of us the trainers, the owners, the jockeys, it’ll be quite a solemn and sad day.
“It’s like attending a funeral, really. The reality has set in.
“We have all accepted that there’s no U-turn and so we just have to move on.”
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Queen Elizabeth II was a keen racing enthusiastCredit: AFP or licensors
LAS VEGAS – Amanda Nunes’ crypticness has been firing on all cylinders recently, but Dana White thinks it’s easy to decode.
During and after Saturday’s UFC 307, a card that featured two important women’s bantamweight title fights, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) said both a little and a lot. First, it was some emojis on X. Then, a video of herself dancing with White’s handle tagged.
“She looks good,” White laughed at a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “She looks great. It looks like she’s still in shape. You know where her head is at and I love that about her. There are a lot of things I love about her – and I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”
Nunes, 36, retired in June 2023 after a title win over Irene Aldana. She cited the desire to spend more time with her wife, former UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and their young daughter.
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Since Nunes’ departure, there have been two title fights. The first was for the vacant strap at UFC 297 in January, during which Raquel Pennington claimed gold through a decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva.
Then, at Saturday’s UFC 307, Pennington lost the belt in a highly controversial split decision to Julianna Peña, a fighter who is 1-1 lifetime vs. Nunes.
Olympic gold medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison also won a unanimous decision Saturday vs. Ketlen Vieira, establishing herself as potentially the next challenger for Peña.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Monday Night Club’s Chris Sutton talks about Liverpool’s impressive start to the season and whether the squad has enough depth to make the Reds “serious” Premier League title contenders.
Watch the best shots from Australia’s “brilliant” innings as they score 148-8 to set up a crushing 60-run win against New Zealand in the Women’s T20 World Cup match in Sharjah.
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