The world had gone crazy when Lionel Messi revealed his new hairstyle after the Copa America 2016. The Argentine superstar had apparently dyed his hair blond so as to get over Argentina's disappointing loss in the final against Chile.
Footballers are not often the men you look to for fashion inspiration. Some have bizarre fashion sense, while few become style icons for the entire generation.
While some of the football's greatest icons including David Beckham, among others, had successfully carried the blond look, others like former England goalkeeper David James resembled a circus clown.
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There have been other instances, where players who may have had the idea of starting afresh like the Barcelona forward, dyed their hair blond.
Here we take a look at 5 such footballers who have recently dyed their hair blond for the first time.
#5 Fabio Borini
Lionel Messi might have dyed his hair blond to look like his hero Fabio Borini.
The Sunderland forward signed up for the bleach-blond bandwagon, when he sported the hairstyle for the first time in the pre-season friendly against Rotherham at the New York Stadium.
The Liverpool discard shone in the game scoring one goal as the Black Cats went on to win the match 2-1. However, the highlight of David Moyes' first game in charge as the Sunderland manager was Borini's hairdo.
The forward had a below par season at the Stadium of Light scoring only 5 times in 26 appearances, while Sunderland narrowly avoided relegation. Borini will want to re-invent his form and prove his worth to new manager David Moyes, and maybe he thinks that changing his look will help him do the same.
Later on, when Messi revealed his new look, Borini took to Twitter as he accused Messi of pinching his idea.
#4 Marko Arnautovic
Marko Arnautovic has sported many haircuts during his footballing career but many were surprised when he dyed his hair blond during vacation.
Stoke City's top scorer last season was pictured by the paparazzi sporting a blond look while on holiday as he relaxed ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.
The Austrian had a disappointing tournament in Euro 2016 in France, though his league campaign was a little better. In 34 Premier League appearances, he found the net 11 times as he starred for the Stoke side.
The 26-year-old forward turned up for a commercial shoot before the season started in his new blond hairdo. He also changed his hairstyle, from a top knot with trimmed sides, popularly known as the man-bun, to a mohawk and probably decided to add some colour as well.
By the look of it, Marko is definitely pulling off his new style and Stoke fans will hope that the Austrian star can replicate his previous season's performance at the club.
#3 Phil Jones
Phil Jones is known for his expressive faces while playing and never came across someone who would do something crazy with his hair. The Manchester United defender seemed like the normal type of guy who goes to the barber's and asks for nothing fancier than a short back and sides.
He was first pictured in the season break with his bleach-blond hair and it did look like he has outdone himself.
Perhaps, the Englishman wanted to catch new boss Jose Mourinho's attention with his silver perch. Perhaps, he felt the need to bring a change after missing out on the Euros. But who would have thought that the Manchester United central defender would bleach his hair blond?
#2 Aaron Ramsey
Aaron Ramsey was probably the first one who started the trend this year when he dyed his hair blond before the Euros.
The Wales midfielder certainly looked dapper in his new barnet as he performed brilliantly for his nation in the European tournament. However, he missed the semi-final against Portugal through suspension which his team eventually lost.
The 25-year-old player was also instrumental for the Gunners last season as the London side secured the second spot behind Leicester City in the Premier League.
He posted a photo of his new hairstyle on Instagram before the start of the tournament and as expected the Arsenal star faced a lot of flak on social media.
Whisper it, but we think that the Welshman looks the best of the lot.
#1 James Rodriguez
Following Ramsey's example, Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez bleached his hair a striking blond in the season break.
The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner, had an injury-ridden previous season with Real Madrid and has fallen down the pecking order in Zinedine Zidane's tenure as the Los Blancos manager.
He first came into the scene when he scored six goals in the Brazil World Cup in 2014 and Real Madrid wasted no time to buy the left-footed player for a huge fee.
The crafty player impressed in his first season but failed to carry the momentum forward into the next season when he suffered an injury. He had been linked with a move to the Premier League in the summer transfer window but he opted to stay at Santiago Bernabeu.
Maybe Rodriguez bleached his hair to catch Zidane's eye in training, maybe he did it to impress his girlfriend, who knows? He has, however, returned to training with black hair after his adventurous experiment.
But we certainly think that the 25-year-old is one player who has simply ruined his hair with one poor decision.
