Modern footballers are looking more and more like past legends Woltemade, Llorente, and De Paul: do they remind you of anyone?

We used to compare footballers based on their technical and tactical traits. Today, however, this can no longer be the only method of comparison: "clones" among players are becoming increasingly common. Some, intentionally or not, try to increasingly resemble champions of the past; and in most cases, the role models are inevitably the great retired legends. After all, who would choose to imitate mediocre or personality-free players?

We have identified three in particular: Nick Woltemade, Marcos Llorente, and Rodrigo De Paul. All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, seem to have become the living clones of a legend from the past.

Rodrigo De Paul

It’s almost mandatory to start with Rodrigo De Paul, who over the past year has literally transformed into David Beckham. Like a cosplayer at a comic convention, he has replicated on every occasion – on the pitch but especially off it – the historic hairstyles of the former English star. The braids, the ponytail, the bleached buzzcut and more: practically everything. It’s hard to believe that De Paul didn’t directly copy Beckham, perhaps digging through Google or Pinterest archives by typing the former Manchester United midfielder’s full name. The evidence is overwhelming, and, in the end, there’s nothing wrong with it: Beckham is unanimously considered the footballer who most glamorized the world of football, turning it into a cultural phenomenon as well as a sport.

Nick Woltemade

The case is different for Nick Woltemade, the German striker formerly of Stuttgart who joined Newcastle last summer for a fee close to 85 million euros. Due to his height and physique, combined with decent technique, he was initially compared to a Premier League legend like Peter Crouch. But over time, many fans changed their minds: on X, the comparison with Gavin Harris, the fictional Newcastle player from the movie Goal! and teammate of Santiago Muñez, went viral. The resemblance is almost uncanny: same features, same posture, even the same jersey. The only difference is the goatee Woltemade sports, which the movie character didn’t have. Unlike the De Paul-Beckham case, here the similarity seems entirely coincidental. The new adidas Magpies kit, which Woltemade wears in the long-sleeve version, also contributes to the immediate and irresistible visual reference to Gavin Harris.

Marcos Llorente

We need to return to Madrid, once again on the Colchoneros’ side, to close this discussion. Perhaps the habit of seeing Simeone’s black kits creates a sense of otherness, almost a desire to escape the everyday reality of Atlético players. The fact is that Marcos Llorente – whether intentionally or not, though perhaps purely coincidental – is very similar to Diego Forlán. Sure, with a bit more tan and in a completely different tactical role compared to the Uruguayan, but the resemblance is undeniable: that headband holding back the massive blonde hair makes them practically identical. And who knows, Llorente’s post-football life may take a particular turn as well: we know he is a passionate golfer, while Forlán, once he hung up his boots, devoted himself to tennis.