Graham Potter once said it was ‘hard to be sexy’ with a name like his… but now his ‘glow-up’ is the talk of English football.
Everybody is talking about the coach who has gone from plain ol’ Potter to Fifty Shades of Graham, and though he has played it down as harmless nonsense, it appears it’s not as accidental as it sounds.
‘A glow-up’, we hear you say, ‘What are you on about?’
It’s defined as ‘a major and impressive transformation in appearance and performance’ - and no, we’re not just talking about Chelsea on the pitch, but about their manager, too.
Not only has Potter’s ever-changing tactics and individual work with his players impressed since taking over from the axed Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge in September, the boss has slowly but steadily adopted a suave new look.
Gone are the club tracksuits and tried and tested shirt and jumper combos, and instead we’ve seen a sharp new haircut, and magnificently kept beard and a newfound love for turtleneck sweaters.
There is nobody hotter than Potter right now, but the coach is taking bringing sexy back into his stride, admitting he doesn’t see himself on the front cover of GQ magazine anytime soon.
"Somebody said to me the other day that I have had a ‘glow-up’ - I have no idea what that is," he said ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Manchester United on Saturday evening.
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"The world has gone upside down if they’re talking about my hair, beard or clothes, is how I see it.
“I suppose it’s better than people talking about me being under pressure or my job being on the line, but I just take it for what it is - another level of irrelevant stuff and harmless fun.
“Do I have a stylist? No!"
There’s no wonder Potter has been stunned by the reaction to his ‘glow-up’ when you look back at these quotes from his three years in charge at Brighton.
“It’s hard to be a sexy name, certainly when your surname is Potter, and especially when your first name is Graham - it becomes even more difficult to be sexy then,” he once said during a press conference.
“Adding to that a long face, a ginger beard and all the rest of it, you just have to stick to being a football coaching and trying to work with the players.”
Well, it’s definitely working - and Chelsea star Mason Mount recently revealed that it’s not an accidental move from his new gaffer, who has made a slight tweak to his matchday preparations.
On Potter’s ‘glow-up’, Mount told Soccer AM: “It’s funny, because obviously we stay in hotels mostly before every game and he comes down in the mornings and he has a fresh trim now.
“He has it done by some of the boys’ barbers - he’s getting involved!”
talkSPORT paid said barbershop a visit and spoke to the man behind Potter’s new look - Christian Gomez, the owner of Don Bigote barbers on Fulham High Street.
And he revealed the Chelsea boss put a lot of faith into his scissor skills when he first visited.
“Right now I’ve got a few Chelsea players coming to the shop, and also the manager Graham Potter,” he said.
“He’s a really good guy, really humble and down to earth.. I said to him, ‘Tell me how you want it’, and he said to me, ‘Just do it however you want, just not too short’.
“I said to myself, ‘I need to change him’, so I gave him a skin fade, short back and sides and a really sharp beard.
“We didn’t have a mirror in front of him at the time, and when he stood up and looked at himself he actually started laughing.
“I assumed he likes it, because one or two weeks after he called me back!”
Whatever he did, it definitely worked - with talkSPORT host Laura Woods a big fan.
The talkSPORT Breakfast presenter said: “Graham Potter’s glow-up is probably one of the best in the history of the Premier League that I’ve ever seen - maybe in the history of football.
“The side-fade, the way he’s grown his beard and had it shaped, he’s even graduated to a turtleneck and suit combo instead of a tracksuit, or a cardigan and shirt layered look.
“He’s gone from Tom from MySpace to Steve Jobs - I’m rating it 10/10!”
Time will tell whether Chelsea’s move to appoint him will bear any fruit…
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Fruit - get it? Steve Jobs... Apple? Whatever.
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