Former Barcelona winger is unrecognisable just one year after his retirement from football as he is seen sporting a grey beard (but is the same age as former team-mate Lionel Messi!)
- A former Barcelona winger looks very different compared to his playing days
- The 36-year-old won La Liga with Barca but never nailed down a starting place
- He also helped Atletico Madrid reach the Champions League final in 2014
A former Barcelona winger has been pictured looking unrecognisable compared to his playing days, despite retiring just one year ago.
In an image shared by Managing Barca on Twitter, he now sports a grey beard that was absent in his playing days, and ages him considerably.
The 36-year-old is the same age as his former teammate Lionel Messi, who was unveiled at Inter Miami on Sunday night, but some observers struggled to believe it.
One fan commented on Twitter that he ‘looked 45’ while another added ‘this can’t be real’.
As a player, he scored 15 goals for the Catalan Giants in 55 games across five years (although three were spent away from the club on loan), winning La Liga and two Copa del Reys.
A former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid winger has been pictured looking unrecognisable at the age of just 36
The forward enjoyed greater success in an earlier spell at Atletico Madrid, winning another league title, the Europa League and reaching a Champions League final.
In international football, he is his country’s fifth most capped player of all time with 100 appearances and took his side to the Euro semi-finals in 2008.
His playing career ended in Turkey with Galatasaray, and he now manages Eyupspor in the country’s second division.
The player in question is Arda Turan, who fans will remember as an exciting talent who acted as a reliable squad player at the Nou Camp without ever establishing himself as a regular.
It was a tough side to break into, as he arrived for £29 million, joining a side that had just won the treble with Messi and Neymar operating in wide areas.
Turan’s managerial career in Turkey began in April last season as he joined Eyupspor with eight games remaining.
He got off to an inauspicious start as their first game was lost 1-0 without registering a shot on target, but they did make it to the play-offs after finishing sixth.
Arda Turan won three major trophies with Barca but never nailed down a starting place
He arrived in a star-studded Catalan side that had won the treble the previous season
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