Turkish cartoons featured on new Inter Milan t-shirts

ROME

Under a new deal, t-shirts from Italian football club Inter Milan feature cartoons by a rising Turkish artist.

A post on Instagram his week showed Inter stars Nicolo Barella, Lautaro Martinez, and Arturo Vidal sporting the new shirts.

"Inter made me an offer,” artist Gokcen Eke told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

“The offer [to work on] Inter's social media and products was like a dream come true for me."

"The drawings were shown to the Inter players. Of course the cartoons were submitted for the players' approval,” he added.

“Inter fans showed great interest. This interest pleased me and the club for sure."

Eke said that he admired former Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga for his skills in the 1990 World Cup and became an Inter fan once he learned that Zenga played for Inter at that time.

His love of Inter led him to move to Italy. He established his own brand, Caricaturella, around a decade ago.

With his new brand, he "started to draw cartoons about the world and football.”

Eke said that after he drew a cartoon memorializing the tragic collapse of a bridge in 2018, football clubs started to follow him online.

For phase one of the project, he drew Inter’s Vidal, Martinez, and Barella.

Inter chair to wear t-shirts

Eke said that Steven Zhang, Inter’s president, said he would wear the special t-shirts every day.

"Perhaps this shows Inter's happiness with the project," he added.

*Writing by Can Erozden