A FORMER Manchester United star looks completely unrecognisable 18 months before winning his first Champions League title.
The player would go on to have one of the most impressive CVs in the game, with a World Cup, European Championship and two Premier League titles to follow.
However, one thing he was not known for was his 90s soap opera looks and lush head of hair.
Upon seeing the picture, one fan tweeted: “Looks like a working class actor in a popular 90s ITV drama series that had a breakout number 1 song.”
Another simply posted a picture of Brookside Close, referring to the soap set in Liverpool that would come to an end in 2003.
And another fan even wrote: “Looks like a young Father Ted”
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Six months after the picture was taken, the player would move from Toulouse to Marseille, where he would win the Champions League in 1993.
The Ligue 1 title would, however, be stripped from the team due to a corruption scandal which also saw them banned from defending their Champions League trophy, but not stripped of it altogether.
When Marseille did win the Champions League, it was starting to become clear that the star’s hair was thinning out and he may ultimately become the bald icon Man Utd and France fans know today.
That is to say, goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
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The player would become immortalised during the 1998 World Cup, with his bald head and stubbled beard the look he would maintain for the rest of his career.
He would then go on to prove the first goalkeeper capable of filling the gloves of the great Peter Schmeichel at Old Trafford after Fergie’s experiments with the likes of Mark Bosnich and Massimo Taibi failed to work out.
Barthez joined the club in 2000 and would help them to the 2001 and 2003 Premier League titles before heading back to Marseille.
And after retirement in 2007 his career would take a turn down a very different track, literally.
Barthez would become a racing driver, specialising in touring cars.
His crowning achievement would come in 2014 when he took part in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing 29th.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
