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'Worse than Ronaldo': George Best the latest footballer to be honoured with a dubious statue
What is it about footballers that continue to confound sculpture's brightest minds?
After Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah were subject of widely mocked statues, the late George Best has been immortalised outside Windsor Park in Belfast with a similarly off-key effort.
The statue was intended to capture the Manchester United legend on one of his trademark mazy dribbles, and was designed by Belfast sculptor Tony Currie from the art group Lecale Bronze.
Comparisons were quickly drawn with the clay bust from the music video for Lionel Richie hit Hello, while the parted mullet adorning Best's head was also a source of amusement.
"Is the new George Best statue at Olympia, modelled on 70s TV character, Benny from Crossroads?," said @briansmyth99 on twitter.
An infamous bust of Ronaldo at Madeira Airport was the first of this trend, and was eventually replaced after the botched attempt caused uproar among his most fervent supporters.
Best's Northern Ireland teammate Pat Jennings, who is possibly more of a likeness to the statue, attended the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday on what would have been Best's 73rd birthday.
"We look at world class players and the Messi's of today - that was George in his day. Nobody could touch him," Jennings told the crowds who gathered outside the stadium.
Best was part of Sir Matt Busby's Man Untied team who became the first English winners of the European Cup in 1968, with Best scoring in the final against Benfica at Wembley.
After leaving Old Trafford in 1974 Best had spells at Fulham and in the United States with several Major League Soccer franchises.
He died in 2005 due to complications caused by a long battle with alcoholism.