Arsenal star to have summer surgery - to remove his tattoos!

Armand Traore will undergo surgery in the summer - to get  rid of his tattoos.

The Arsenal left-back made the decision as he has become a devout Muslim and their faith forbids any permanent changes to the body.

"I am going under the knife at the end of the season to remove the tattoos," he told Arsenal's official matchday programme.

"I'm planning to do it in the summer. They put me under anesthetic and then do it all, and when I wake up everything will be gone.

"It needs a little bit of recovery time so I'm going to do it at the end of the football season.

"If I had been into my religion properly before I had the tattoos I don't think I would have got them.

"I think it's one of the biggest mistakes of my life, but I will try and correct it.

"My religion has benefited me personally and in my career. I have always been a Muslim but I wasn't really practising it, I was just saying to people 'I am a Muslim'. It's a gradual development."

Traore is favourite to fill in for the injured Kieran Gibbs in Sunday's crunch London derby at home to Chelsea. Gibbs has undergone surgery after breaking a metertasal in the Gunners' Champions League victory over Standard Liege on Tuesday night.

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