Ed Sheeran: “Real Madrid, please sign me up”

Celebrating his 28^th birthday whilst on tour in Brazil, Ed – who comes from the close-knit rural village of Framlingham in Suffolk, whose famous castle he dedicated one of his songs to – played a friendly with some of the country’s top footballers at the Allianz Parque ground in Palmeiras.

Whilst clearly talented vocally and in composing lyrics – his summer hit Shape of You, with its South African Marimba notes, shot to number one in several countries last year – the East Anglian is unlikely to be the next Benzema or Vinícius, although luckily, he was able to laugh off his sub-par performance, which included kicking the ball so far wide it nearly went off the pitch when he took a free shot in an empty penalty box.

Posing later on Instagram (pictured) in an Allianz Parque strip, the celebrity visitor dubbed ‘Edinho’ (‘Little Ed’) by his fellow players captioned his shot: “@RealMadrid, sign me up plz.”

The singer has managed to take time out watching Allianz play live during his tour.

Move Concerts Brasil shared the photo and wrote: “Today was a rest day for @teddysphotos [Sheeran] and he came to Allianz Parque, only this time onto the pitch, for a game with the club. Who’d like to play on Ed’s team?”