The star of the European Football Championship so far has not been on the pitch, but in the TV studio.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has been the pick of the TV pundits – winning an army of fans with his forthright views and crazy behaviour such as jumping on the desk when his home nation of Croatia score a goal.
He is a welcome breath of fresh air.
But what has been perplexing viewers has been Bilic’s hair – particularly just after the tournament first started. Viewers have highlighted the pundit’s ‘dogdy’ and ‘unusual’ hair and have been asking if he may have received help with his hair.
Our picture of Bilic in the TV studio appear to indicate that he has had a hair transplant.
The key signs are the way his hair has been shaved and the red marks at front of his hairline which is the scarring which happens after a transplant around where the new hair has been transplanted.
Crown Clinic’s hair transplant surgeon Asim Shahmalak believes that the soccer boss has had a FUT (follicular unit transplantation) hair transplant procedure.
Dr Shahmalak said: “I think he has had a hair transplant
“He would have had it about two weeks before he first appeared on TV. In the first few games it was clear that he was in the recovery phase. That’s why there was that the redness at the front of his scalp where the new hair had been trasplanted. It also explains his hair cut.
“I think he he has had a FUT procedure, also known as strip harvesting. This is where a strip of skin is removed from the back or side of the scalp to harvest the donor hair. I think it is an FUT because of the length of the donor hair.”
Bilic sparked speculation that he had had an earlier transplant when he wore a wooly hat in the searing summer heat when he was managing Croatia during the 2012 European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine – suggesting he may have been covering up a procedure.
Bilic would not be the first Premiership manager to have help with his hair. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and the new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte have both bolstered their hair with transplants.
Dr Shahmalak said: “Hair transplants have never been more popular in tthe world of football. Wayne Rooney kicked things off with his FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedure five years ago and now lots of players, managers and pundits have followed his lead including Crown Clinic’s client Didi Hamann.
“They all want to look younger and protect their images rights by improving their hair. It is money well spent.
“It is true that Slaven Bilic’s hair may have looked a bit dodgy to TV viewers in the weeks after his transplant, but this is perfectly normal scarring. His hair will look fantastic in six months to a year when the new transplanted hair has fully grown back.”