Manchester City midfielder Rodri has turned into public enemy no.1 among the rival fans for some of his controversial comments after winning the 2023/24 Premier League title.
He particularly infuriated Arsenal fans by questioning their ‘mentality’ in the title race. He also mocked them for playing to win a point at the Etihad Stadium.
Rodri had a dismal end to the campaign. He saw his 74-game unbeaten streak broken by a shocking loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. This caused a lot of delight among the opposition fans, who saw it as a fitting way of bringing him down to earth.
Now it appears that there is ‘new evidence’ to further mock the Spanish midfielder or explain his impressive form over the last few years.
Recently, some ‘past and present’ pictures of Rodri have gone viral on social media. The main focus point is how his eyebrows seem to have almost disappeared over the years.
A picture of him at Atletico Madrid shows the Spaniard with two thick eyebrows. Compare that to his current look, and Rodri appears to have very little eyebrow hair remaining. A lot of the hair just seems to have come off and there are now little lines of it remaining above his eyes.
This has sparked a range of conspiracy theories across social media.
The most common one is being that Rodri’s eyebrow reduction is a strong case of him taking performance-enhancement drugs (PEDs).
Taking PEDs can have an effect on one’s appearance and cause reduction in hair levels, including the eyebrows. A lot of fans believe that Rodri is actively taking PEDs to maintain his high performance levels and be so consistent for the Cityzens.
But there is zero logic or substance to these claims.
The biggest reason why it’s impossible is because of the sheer number of doping tests top-level footballers like Rodri have to take throughout a season.
If he did indeed take something illegal, then he’d be found out and banned like Paul Pogba – who got banned for four years after a banned drug DHEA was found in his system.
There are other, more logical, reasons why Rodri might’ve suffered from a loss in his eyebrows over the last few years.
Some have speculated that he might be suffering from Trichotillomania – which is a hair-pulling disorder.
As because Rodri has been forced to play in 60+ matches over the last few seasons for the Cityzens and having so much pressure to help them control matches in midfield, fans have speculated that he might be having this issue.
Trichotillomania is a hair-pulling disorder that can cause a person to pull out their eyebrow hair as well. One of the major causes is facing distress at work, and Rodri is almost always under pressure to help Manchester City win matches.
The 27-year-old midfielder has never shown signs of major frustration on the pitch, but one never knows what his off-the-pitch habits must be like.
Another possible issue to have caused Rodri’s eyebrow reduction is the autoimmune disease Alopecia Areata’.
This is a disease that can cause spots of hair lots in random areas of the body. More particular, it’s ‘Frontal fibrosing alopecia’ that actually causes eyebrow loss and can result in the thinning of the eyebrow hairline which Rodri seems to be suffering from.
The 27-year-old midfielder can, of course, look into possible medical remedies to stop his eyebrows from completely falling off. Castor Oil, for one, is a remedy that can help him grow back his eyebrow hair. Corticosteroid pills can also help to treat Alopecia Areata and help him regrow his eyebrow shape.
Rodri seems like the player who really likes taking care of his physique and health. This is probably why it’s high time he looks into fixing his eyebrows situation and grow it back to rubbish the ridiculous PED conspiracy theory that rival fans seem to be mounting on him.
