Football is a sport that often leaves you shocked and stunned. At every turn, there is something that has you scratching your head and questioning whether this is the reality or you’re daydreaming.
One of those instances is when a footballer keeps the same signature hairstyle for several years and, out of the blue, shows up with a different hairstyle, making them look unrecognizable and a completely different person.
One of the best examples of that is Sergio Ramos back in the early 2010s. Up to that point in his career, he had luscious long hair and a clean-shaven look, but before Euro 2012, he chopped off his long hair and debuted a side-parting haircut with a scruffy beard.
His former Real Madrid teammate Mateo Kovacic has done the opposite.
Kovacic, who has spent most of his career sporting the short back and side trim and a buzz cut before making the skinhead hairstyle his signature look, has left the fans in shock and disbelief as he showed up with a hairstyle that felt very “un-Kovacic”.
The Manchester City midfielder has been plagued by injuries and has been out of action for most of the season, making just two cameo appearances in 2025-26.
He underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer before returning in October. After a couple of cameos against Everton and Villareal, he faced another setback as he felt discomfort in his Achilles and had to undergo surgery for the second time.
This gave him ample time to grow out his hair and debut his new hairstyle alongside a positive update on social media as he returned to the Man City training ground to meet the club physios and get his injury status checked.
He posted a photo on social media where he’s smiling in the physio room with the caption “Happy to be back at club camp”.
While some fans did focus on his return from injury, his new hairstyle was the talking point for the vast majority. Fans had their jaws on the floor as Kovacic sported a new hairstyle with long, wavy hair that made him look totally different.
Fans on social media went from refusing to accept that this is indeed Kovacic to getting mad at him for not sporting his long, beautiful hair before.
Some fans are even throwing Turkey allegations at Kovacic, claiming that he has been taking trips to Turkey, a country popular for hair transplants, during his time away due to injury.
However, this theory can be easily quashed by looking at Kovacic’s photos from 2016-17 when he played for Real Madrid. He was sporting a slickback hairstyle, displaying that he was capable of pulling off longer hair when he wanted to.
The long hair era did not last long, as he quickly went back to having short hair in 2018. Upon his transfer to Chelsea in 2018 and later at Manchester City, he kept switching between short hair and skinhead from time to time, to the point that the skinhead hairstyle became his signature hairstyle.
That is why, for someone who has been sporting a skinhead for years, the new long, wavy, free-flowing hairstyle was a shock to the eyes of fans.
With the 2025-26 season ending with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Kovacic and the Croatian National Team manager Zlatko Dalic are hoping he returns to full fitness by the March International Break so that he can be ready for the World Cup.
