Former United States forward Landon Donovan sported a bizarre and disjointed hairstyle on punditry duty at the European Championship.
The former LA Galaxy player had a crew or buzz cut throughout his career, but on Fox Sports’ coverage of France against Austria in Euro 2024, parts of the American’s scalp were fully exposed.
Donovan, blamed the new look, which caused a storm on social media, on ‘a hair transplant procedure two weeks ago’ in a text conversation with his former LA Galaxy team-mate Mike Magee. Donovan joked to Magee that he had been told it ‘wouldn’t show up on camera’.
But Donovan is far from the only footballer to have gone under the needle in recent years with the increased pressures of the modern game sending hairlines backward.
Footballers aren’t the only celebrities to undergo the treatment either. The likes of Elton John, Elon Musk, Jimmy Carr have all reportedly had this increasingly commonplace procedure.
Here, Mail Sport takes a look at the 10 best transplants in football history.
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Landon Donovan was called out for sporting an ‘interesting’ hairstyle while on punditry duties at Euro 2024
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During his playing days as a forward for LA Galaxy (pictured in 2016) Donovan looked different
David Beckham (2018 – rumoured)
David Beckham has never commented publicly about whether or not he had a hair transplant in 2018. But that hasn’t stopped the speculation after photos emerged of what appeared to be post procedural markings on Beckham’s head in Miami in 2018.
After the rumoured surgery, Beckham’s hairline appeared to be lot straighter than before. Beckham also wore hats on several occasions snapped by photographs further fuelling the rumours.
A spokesperson for Beckham said in 2018 that it ‘was a matter of privacy whether it’s false or true,’ without denying that Beckham had had a transplant.
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David Beckham was photographed in Miami following his rumoured hair transplant surgery
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Compared to being pictured out for dinner in 2018 (first image), Beckham’s hairline appears a little straighter (second image)
David Silva (2018)
David Beckham isn’t the only Dave to have had a hair transplant. Former Manchester City and Spain midfield maestro David Silva clearly felt his hairline was struggling under the constant demands of winning titles.
Come 2018, Silva had a procedure and briefly went bald as the new hair follicles grew out. It was clearly effective with Silva no longer needing to cover his receding hairline with his floppy hair.
David Silva’s flopping locks in 2017 (left) appeared to cover all manner of sins, before the revelation of his 2018 procedure (pictured right in 2019)
Jurgen Klopp (2012)
In 2012, then-Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp had a hair transplant to combat his receding hairline. By 2008, Klopp had grown his hair out longer possibly to hide the problem, but later decided a procedure was necessary.
Klopp acknowledged the transplant publicly when asked by journalists: ‘Yes, it’s true. I underwent a hair transplant… And I think the results are really cool, don’t you?’
And it looked like it had worked for many years. But in 2021, the German newspaper Bild reported that Klopp’s hair was thinning once again on top of his head. Around the same time, the decorated manager began increasingly wearing a cap on the touchline at Anfield.
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In 2011 (left) Klopp was starting to recede but underwent a hair transplant a year later (pictured right in 2013
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Towards the end of his time at Anfield, Klopp frequently sported a baseball cap in the dugout
Xherdan Shaqiri (2019)
Before Xherdan Shaqiri was sidelined for two months with a calf injury in 2019, his hairline had been receding for several years.
But when he returned from that injury in 2020 with a glorious head of brown hair, fans of the Swiss winger knew something wasn’t quite right.
Rumours circulated online that Shaqiri’s spell out with his calf problem had been extended by six weeks due to a hair transplant which might have forced him to not header the ball while his head recovered.
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When Xherdan Shaqiri left Liverpool training with a calf injury in 2019 (left) few could have predicted how he would return (pictured in 2020, right)
Wayne Rooney (2011, 2013)
Rooney was one of the first high-profile footballers to openly acknowledge having had a hair transplant.
In 2011, the England and Manchester United legend admitted that he had surgery writing in a social media post: ‘Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a hair transplant. I was going bald at 25 why not. I’m delighted with the result.’
But the result wasn’t quite as successful as expected with the die-hard Evertonian needing another procedure in 2013 after he began slowly balding again. The procedures have reportedly cost in the region of £30,000.
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Wayne Rooney was open about the fact that he had a hair transplant during his playing career
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The England star cut a very different figure in 2010 (left) than two years later in 2012 (right)
The Manchester United icon admitted to his first procedure on social media site Twitter
Rob Holding (2021)
2021 was quite a year at Arsenal for defender Rob Holding. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Holding made 30 Premier League apperances for the Gunners, the highest number in his seven years at the club.
But it was fans watching from their living rooms that noticed Holding’s significant change as his previously receding hairline began to grow back.
After fans picked up the hair transplant, Holding shared on social media: ‘Because it’s World Mental Health Day, I struggled so much with my hair and self confidence.’
The centre back’s procedure was successful and he even had to take to wearing an Alice band when playing to keep his newly flowing locks out of his eyes. Clearly chuffed with the result, Holding publicly promoted the clinic where had had the transplant.
‘I have had so many messages about where I have had my procedure. Wimpole Clinic in London treated me so well and I’m so happy with the results,’ he wrote.
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Rob Holding (pictured left in 2020) shared his decision to get a hair transplant on World Mental Health Day (pictured in 2023, right)
Antonio Conte (2000, plus two additional procedures)
It might comes as a surprise that the pugnacious former Chelsea and Tottenham manager once had an intensely receding hairline.
Back in the 1990s during his time as an Italy international and towards the end of his career, Conte’s hair thinned rapidly, surely frustrating the well-known perfectionist. Nowadays, however, he has one of the most luscious heads of hair in world football.
Conte has been plagued with speculation that he underwent a transplant around 2000, and that he has reportedly had two subsequent procedures to stave off baldness. Suffice to say, his style is all the better for it.
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Antonio Conte has reportedly had several hair transplants over the years and now has a full head of hair (pictured in 2022)
The former Italy international looked thinner on top at the 1994 World Cup (left) before his alleged transplant (pictured right in 2001)
Andros Townsend (2016)
Although it’s yet to be confirmed, Andros Townsend is another England international rumoured to have had a hair transplant.
The winger has played Premier League footballer for over a decade, most recently turning out for last season’s freshly promoted Luton. But his hairline has changed dramatically over that period in England’s top flight.
At Newcastle in 2016, Townsend’s hairline seemed to be in full retreat. But after initially shaving his head the following season at Crystal Palace, Townsend grew his hair out in surprising and impressive fashion.
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Andros Townsend cut a much more sparse presence at Newcastle (first image, in 2016) than he did at Crystal Palace (right, in 2018)
Slaven Bilic (2016)
Former West Ham coach and player, Slaven Bilic’s hair began to go during his decades-long career in management. After moving to coach the Hammers in 2015, the effects began particularly noticeable for the Croatian.
Bilic has never confirmed if he had a transplant but the pictures speak for themselves as he was seen with a full head of hair at the start of the following season, with a hair doctor explaining he had likely undergone the procedure just before Euro 2016.
Slaven Bilic has never confirmed that he has undergone a hair transplant but there was a marked difference between pictures of the manager in 2016 (left) and 2017 (right)
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Cenk Tosun is another who has yet to confirm publicly that he has had the procedure (pictured left in 2015 and right in 2018)
Cenk Tosun (between 2015-2018)
It isn’t quite clear if Turkish international Cenk Tosun had a hair transplant as he hasn’t confirmed publicly that he did.
But at some point between 2015 and his joining Everton in 2018 it looks like he either went under the knife to solve his hair issue – or found some other miracle cure for his balding scalp.
