Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looks on ahead of Champions League final vs Paris St Germain
Mikel Arteta’s footballer son, Gabriel Arteta Bernal, has an eye condition that affects just one per cent of the world, and details of it have now emerged.
The 17-year-old currently plays for Arsenal's academy and will hope to follow in his father’s footsteps one day. In recent months, the young winger has been steadily establishing himself at Hale End, even if he still has a long way to go before receiving the same limelight as Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri.
Footage of his Under-18s debut against Reading emerged and quickly circulated online back in April, first sparking conversation about whether the Premier League could welcome another iconic father-and-son duo in years to come.
Gabriel Arteta Bernal's Rare Eye Condition Emerges
Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Now, after his official headshot was released on the club's website, it’s Arteta Jr.’s appearance rather than his football ability that has people talking about him once again.
The teenager has one blue and one brown eye, which is a condition known as heterochromia, which experts estimate that fewer than one per cent of the world has. In the USA, medical records suggest only 200,000 people have it. See below:
Very few people in the world have heterochromia. Notable celebrities who have the condition include actors Mila Kunis and Henry Cavill, although Cavill's is only partial, with it coming in different forms and visibility.
More Details About Heterochromia
As per Cleveland Clinic, there are three different types of heterochromia, the condition Arteta Jr. has. Complete (Heterochromia Iridis) is when each eye is a completely different colour, such as one blue and one brown, as is the case with the teenager.
Sectoral (Partial or Segmental) is where part, or a wedge-shaped section, of one iris is a different colour from the rest. And lastly, some people have central heterochromia, where the inner ring of the iris near the pupil is a different colour from the outer ring.
Arteta
In most cases, the condition is present at birth, usually caused by a harmless genetic mutation or changes in the distribution of melanin (pigment), inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. But it can also develop later in life, caused by eye injury, trauma, bleeding, inflammation (such as uveitis), tumours or other factors.
For Arteta Jr., the condition does not pose any known health concerns and is simply a distinctive part of his appearance. If he ever wanted to alter its appearance, he could do so by wearing coloured contact lenses for cosmetic purposes.