Manchester United right back Noussair Mazraoui has undergone two hair transplants despite having relatively mild hair loss. His procedures in 2021 and 2025 aimed to correct early thinning and maintain a natural-looking hairline, with rapid, full-looking results supported by his naturally curly hair.
Discover more about Mazraoui’s hair transplant procedures including his results and before and after photos in this article.
This detailed, step-by-step look at Noussair Mazraoui’s evolving hairline reveals how two strategic FUE procedures have restored his confidence. It explains why he acted early, how his results developed, and what his case indicates about graft planning, medical therapy, and choosing the right time for a transplant.
Key takeaways
Noussair Mazraoui is a footballer who plays for English Premier League club Manchester United. While he plays for the Moroccan national team, Mazraoui was born and raised in the Netherlands, starting his career at Ajax before moving on to Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
Throughout his career, Mazraoui has always sported a seemingly thick head of hair. But a video released in 2022 confirmed Mazraoui had a hair transplant seven months earlier, around mid-2021. Then a surprising on-pitch appearance in September 2025 drew speculation that Mazraoui has had a second hair transplant.
Let’s take a look at the changes in Mazraoui’s hairline in recent years to assess the impact of his hair transplants.
Noussair Mazraoui didn’t appear to have extensive hair loss, though a few photos have emerged of his thinning hair. Mazraoui himself has also spoken about his hair loss in an interview with his clinic, saying:
“Two years ago [in 2020], I started suffering from hair loss. I noticed that my hairline was receding, so I was sort of tucking my hair back and letting it grow to cover it up a bit, but it kept coming forward.
At a certain point, there was nothing left, so you could really see it, and at that moment I thought, ‘Should I really wait and see if it goes, or take action right away?’ And I chose to take action immediately.”
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Mazraoui has had two hair transplants under the age of 30, which is pretty unusual. Despite this, he’s never had clear and extensive hair thinning. Products like hair fibres can help disguise mild balding, but they’re not always the best choice for pro athletes — rain and sweat can wash them away.
Here, see how Noussair Mazraoui’s hair loss has developed since the start of his playing career.
Seen here at the start of his senior playing career, it’s clear that Mazraoui’s 21-year-old hairline was strong and straight. He had no significant signs of hair loss, even when his hair was cropped short.
However, Mazraoui has said he first started noticing hair loss around 2020, and that his first hair transplant took place in 2021. So his symptoms may have been more significant than they appeared. In fact, Mazraoui stated that he was starting to use specific hairstyles to hide his receding hairline before opting for a hair transplant.
Some photos from 2021 show some light frontal balding, but he doesn’t have an obvious receding hairline at this stage.
Mazraoui left Ajax for the Bundesliga in 2022, where his hairline thrived for a couple of years. However, by 2024, some thinning was visible through his mid-scalp, despite his hairline remaining pretty full. This suggests Mazraoui may not have used finasteride or minoxidil to keep his native hair intact.
Finasteride is a drug that helps limit hair loss stemming from male pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness normally affects men with a high sensitivity to (or high levels of) a hormone called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Finasteride reduces the amount of DHT in your body so it can’t affect your hair to the same extent.
A hair transplant is the single most effective way to replace permanently lost hair — but it won’t stop future hair loss. That’s why taking finasteride after a hair transplant is often recommended; it can slow or even stop further balding, helping to preserve the results of your hair transplant.
Using minoxidil after a hair transplant can also help, but it won’t limit your DHT levels in the same way as finasteride.
Mazraoui signed for Manchester United in 2024. In 2025, his appearance in the Manchester derby had all the telltale signs of a recent hair transplant procedure: freshly cropped hair, distinctive redness around his grafts, and even some lingering hair transplant scabs.
This suggests Mazraoui had a top-up hair transplant to tackle that ongoing hair loss. It’s often possible to have multiple hair transplants, providing you have enough healthy grafts available in your donor region.
Just a few months later, Mazraoui’s results were already starting to show. His hair was thick and full at the AFCON 2025/2026 quarter finals in January 2026, just four months after his procedure.
Noussair Mazraoui has had two hair transplants in 2021 and 2025. Prior to his first procedure, he had very limited public signs of thinning, though some match footage from around this time shows him with a slightly more uneven hairline when his hair is cropped back.
Mazraoui’s hairline appeared straighter and fuller within a few months. Talking about his first procedure, he said:
“I had surgery 7 months ago and now 7 months later it looks like this and I am very satisfied with it. I am still the same Nous, but I feel even more confident.”
Mazraoui went on to have a second hair transplant just three years later at the age of 27. It’s not unusual for male pattern baldness to progress rapidly in your 20s. Wimpole Clinic surgeon Dr Ahmad Moussa explains:
“Ongoing hair loss is always a concern. And it’s one of the things that we have to counsel patients about before we start. We can move hair from one part to another, but we can’t control ongoing hair loss.
“We have a discussion with them about medications which can try and put the brakes on that. So, reduce the chance of further hair loss and therefore reduce the chance of another procedure. But we never force it on them.”
Finasteride in particular can have some unwanted side effects, so some patients prefer not to take it, and therefore avoid the risks.
Mazraoui hasn’t publicly commented on his second hair transplant, so the circumstances around this one aren’t yet fully clear. But it looks like it was successful, with his hairline looking thicker and stronger just four months after his surgery:
Yes, Mazraoui’s hairline looks very natural for a man of his age. The temple points are suitably situated, so his hairline isn’t too low, and his hair looks much thicker through the mid-scalp.
Noussair Mazraoui hasn’t revealed the number of grafts he received in either of his hair transplants, but it’s likely to have been fairly conservative as his hair loss was minimal in both cases.
It’s estimated that Mazraoui has had around 2,500 hair grafts across two procedures to enhance his hairline and mid-scalp.
Dr Chirag Gadhia, a specialist FUE surgeon at the Wimpole Clinic, explains more about graft selection for younger patients like Noussair Mazraoui:
“Younger patients are more likely to be suffering from ongoing hair loss so when designing the hairline and marking the donor area we need to take this into consideration, as the patient may require further surgeries. There is a greater role for hair loss prevention treatments in younger patients.
“Ethnicity is also an important consideration, such as in African hair the curlier nature means it may give a fuller appearance perceived as quicker growth.”
The curly texture of Mazraoui’s hair may be why his hair looks thick and full so soon after his surgery (along with having minimal thinning in the first place).
Use our hair transplant graft calculator for an estimate of how many hair grafts you might need to tackle your own thinning.
Getting a hair transplant is a big decision. Millions of men are affected by hair loss, even at a young age, and a hair transplant is often a viable, highly successful treatment option. But some doctors hesitate to perform hair transplants on younger patients. Dr Peter Barron explains:
“I avoid performing procedures on those under 25 and probably could count the number I’ve done on one hand. Those that I have done have stabilised their hair loss prior to a transplant and have a long term plan in mind should they lose more hair.
“My hairlines, even for young patients, err on the conservative side so as to not look incongruous as they get older. If you give them an 18 year old’s hairline while they’re 25, it is going to be their permanent hairline for when they are 50, 60, 70 years old.”
Younger patients who are in the early stages of hair loss can often benefit from non-surgical medical therapies to keep their hair intact. If these don’t give you the results you want, a hair transplant may be your next step.
Mazraoui had an FUE hair transplant for his first procedure, and it’s likely that his second procedure was FUE too. FUE is the world’s most popular technique for hair transplantation, as it’s less invasive than FUT and leaves less scarring [1].
Our surgeon Dr Peter Thomas explains more about the difference between FUT vs FUE in this video:
The clinic where Mazraoui had his first procedure revealed that they used the FUE CT technique to perform his hair transplant. FUE CT is a proprietary technique used by specific clinics, though there’s no published independent research to suggest it’s more effective than regular FUE.
At the Wimpole Clinic, we’ve helped thousands of patients get back the hair they love. From performing footballers’ hair transplants to discussing non-surgical options, our team of dedicated surgeons will help you restore your hair so you can feel your best. Just look at Rob Holding’s hair transplant and the impact it had for him:
“I struggled so much with my hair and self-confidence. I have had so many messages about where I had my procedure. The Wimpole Clinic in London treated me so well and I am so happy with the results.”
Book a consultation at your nearest Wimpole Clinic location to kick off your hair restoration journey.
Find out more about Mazraoui’s hair transplant — plus other athletic hair restorations — in these frequently asked questions.
Mazraoui has had two hair transplants at the ages of 24 (in 2021) and 27 (in 2025). While Mazraoui’s hair looks thick right now, any future procedures will need to take careful account of his remaining donor hair to avoid hair transplant overharvesting.
Dozens of football players have spoken out about their hair transplants, either through clinic partnerships or on social media. Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant was one of the first to be revealed, while Wimpole Clinic patients Rob Holding and Danny Ings have shown off their hair transplants too.
Others haven’t publicly discussed their hair, but are rumoured to have had surgical intervention (like Mo Salah’s hair transplant and James Maddison’s hair transplant). Here are some more known and rumoured footballer hair transplants:
Mazraoui had his first hair transplant alongside his then-Ajax teammate Sean Klaiber. Speaking about getting their procedures at the same time, Mazraoui said:
“It made the conversations nice, I think, and it also makes it a bit easier, I think, to go through such a process together.”
Noussair Mazraoui is known to be a committed Muslim, so like many other men of this faith, he may have wondered if hair transplants are haram. Most Islamic scholars agree that hair transplants are permissible under Islamic law, as they restore an original part of the body that has been affected by a medical condition.
Under certain conditions, hair transplants aren’t permissible. For example, using artificial hair implants, or getting a hair transplant for vanity or deception.
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