The personal branding of a sportsperson has gained prominence in modern football.
The way a player looks and carries himself is slowly becoming almost as important as how good the player actually plays.
Stars like Karim Benzema are becoming fashion icons with partnerships with luxury brands like Fendi, while some others like Hector Bellerin are already modelling.
Given the lucrativeness of the fashion industry, any modern player would want to follow suit and look his best at all times to attract the industry’s attention.
One such player is new Chelsea signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Back when he played in Germany, in his Borussia Dortmund days, the striker was known for his iconic mohawk.
Seeing that mohawk by itself was a scary sight to behold for defenders who could never keep up with his lightning speed.
Alongside the mohawk, he had some pretty experimental and questionable trims that each lasted for a little while, but he always ended up going back to the classic.
While his club changed, swapping Dortmund for Arsenal, his need to experiment with different hair-dos did not.
He kept switching from fancier cuts to low-key subtle looks. One day you would see him in dreads, the other day in a flat top.
Towards the end of his Emirates days, however, the Gabon international’s hairline was visibly receding.
For someone who is so proud of his hair, it could not have been an easy sight.
After his short stint playing at Camp Nou, he was back in London, signing for Chelsea.
There he showcased his short hair with a sharp cut. The cut in itself wasn’t bad by any means, but his receding hairline was definitely more visible now.
Not to be fazed though, it looks like he is taking steps towards fixing this.
During Chelsea’s UCL game against Milan on Wednesday, where Aubameyang scored, fans were quick to notice that his hairline is looking sharper than ever.
This could be done in multiple ways. It can either be a hair transplant, hair spray, or other types of grafting or implants. We cannot know until a close source or the player himself confirms it.
Auba’s former teammate from Arsenal, Rob Holding had a very similar issue. He had an infamously bad hairline but fixed it up after having a hair transplant at Wimpole Clinic in London.
Considering they once played together, and that the forward is back in London now, albeit at a different club, maybe he used the same clinic or the same procedure as Rob did.
The good thing about this? People are loving the new look.
Hairlines recede, it’s natural and human. What matters is how good you handle it.
Of course, you want to look sharp when posing for cameras, or when all eyes are on you after scoring a goal.
Not just the player, the fans too look up to these players as role models and want them to be fresh and clean.
And if there was any lingering doubt that Auba is focusing on maintaining his personal brand, we only need to look back to last week’s game against Palace, where he opened the scoring, and did not let anyone touch his hair during the subsequent celebrations.
Maybe it’s the hair clinic advising him to not touch it, maybe he doesn’t want anyone to ruin the look, or maybe it’s something else entirely.
Either way, now that the hairline is coming back, we hope that his fancy hairstyles will too.