Arsenal icon’s nightclub visits turned to ‘hell’ after notorious Calvin Klein advert

Former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg became a star on the pitch and in the catalogues following his photo shoot for Calvin Klein, but the former Swede paid an uncomfortable price for its success

Ex-Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg once starred in a Calvin Klein underwear advert, but the Swede received unwelcome attention off the back of it.

Ljungberg, who turned 48 on Wednesday, was one of the main faces of the company between 2003 and 2007, leaving him a star on the football pitch and in the catalogues. The former Invincible was no stranger to the spotlight but his infamous underwear campaigns left him in awkward positions.

The 75-time Sweden international previously revealed he repeatedly got groped in nightclubs after his Calvin Klein promotion.

Opening up about the multiple times he was groped by other women after the campaign, he said as quoted by the Metro: “I’d go to a nightclub and girls would come up and grab my willy. Just like that.

“There were hands everywhere. From behind, from the sides, pulling and tugging. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

While Ljungberg stripped down to the Calvin Klein underwear he was promoting during these shoots, the Swede initially suggested he was uncomfortable about the added attention he was receiving in 2003.

At the time, Ljungberg had already followed the footsteps of Manchester United legends George Best and David Beckham to promote the fashion company’s underwear.

At the time, he was an extremely talented 21-year-old prospect who was beginning to assert himself for Arsenal.

However, Ljungberg said the extra attention and fame he was receiving from his modelling was beginning to make him feel very uncomfortable.

”I’ve always been interested in clothes and shopping, and I have a few friends who work in fashion,” he said in an interview with the New York Times Magazine in 2003.

”But I’m constantly surprised by the amount of interest in how I look. It’s flattering, but a little weird — at the end of the day, I’m a footballer.”