Ray Parlour is one of the good guys of English football: an unsung hero for Arsenal, an unglamourous yet vital cog in their machine, he won nine major honours, including three titles during his time at the club, one of which came as part of the famous 'Invincibles' side that went the whole season unbeaten.
But he's surpassed all of those achievements with the unveiling of the cover art for his forthcoming autobiography.
Just behold this piece of magnificence:
Embracing his nickname of the Romford Pele, given to him by teammate Marc Overmars, Ray has taken it next level with this beautifully photoshopped effort.
As if that wasn't enough, the title even manages to shoehorn in a reference to a famous piece of commentary by the esteemed Chelsea fan Tim Lovejoy, back in his Soccer AM days. When Arsenal played the Blues in the 2002 FA Cup final, Parlour picked up the ball in midfield. Dismissing his manifold talents, Lovejoy proclaimed, 'oh it's alright, it's only Ray Parlour', whereupon the Romford Pele curled a beautiful shot into the top corner, with the Gunners going on to win 2-0 (skip to 1:15 in the video below).
Lovejoy getting something wrong about football, who'd have thought?
As if you needed any more incentive to buy this book immediately, check out this quote of endorsement from Arsene Wenger: "In my football career I have never come across anyone else quite like Ray. It's simple - everybody loved him. Honestly I did not always understand his jokes because he spoke in Cockney. Even if I didn't understand it everybody laughed".
(Image: Rex)
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