Seven ex-Prem stars who embraced retirement after Samir Nasri flaunted fuller figure
Being a professional footballer requires discipline, hard work and sacrifice.
For players at the very top level, that means eating healthily and staying away from foods that us mere mortals take for granted.
So is it any wonder that, when their playing career is over, some stars swap gut-busting runs for gut-busting burgers and fully embrace retirement?
Former Arsenal and Manchester City star Samir Nasri was mocked in October 2021 for his portly post-football figure, but he’s not the only ex-pro to have piled on the pounds.
Daily Star Sport take a look at seven ex-Premier League stars who have cast off the shackles and let themselves go just a little bit after hanging up their boots…
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Samir Nasri
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There’s only one place to start. Nasri turned heads with his new rotund figure while appearing for a ‘Legends of Marseille’ team who were facing a UNICEF side in a charity game at the Stade Velodrome.
The Frenchman, 34, only retired a few weeks previous but wasted no time at all living life to the fullest – in every sense of the word – even if some fans refused to actually believe it was him.
One confused Twitter user wrote: “Honestly thought that picture of Samir Nasri was fake.”
Diego Tristan
Can you think of any more footballers who have piled on the pounds after retiring? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Once upon a time former Mallorca, Deportivo and West Ham striker Diego Tristan won the European Golden Boot. Post-retirement he definitely settled into a fuller figure.
Pictured in 2016, the Spaniard, who scored three goals in 14 appearances for the Hammers, appeared to have put on the pounds as he turned out for veteran team La Algaba in his hometown.
Neil Ruddock
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Ex-Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton man Neil Ruddock doubled his body weight from 12 and a half to 25 stone after adopting a junk food diet when his playing days ended.
The one-time England star took part in ITV show Harry’s Heroes in 2019 and 2020 and lost an impressive 1.5 stone after being told he could die any moment during filming.
Ruddock admitted: “After training pretty much every day of my life for three decades, it’s easy to get unfit and be lazy when you stop playing.
“I miss all the lads but not the training, so taking part in Harry’s Heroes was a real eye opener and helped inspire me to change my lifestyle for better.”
Mido
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(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Mido was routinely mocked over his bigger physique during his seven year stay in the Premier League – which saw him enjoy spells at Spurs, Middlesbrough, Wigan and West Ham .
After hanging up his boots in 2013, the ex-striker’s weight ballooned even further, with his podgy belly capturing the attention of fans far and wide.
He eventually “hit rock bottom” and decided to turn his body into a temple – or should that be pyramid – with the help of a personal trainer, shedding an incredible eight stone.
Jan Molby
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Honorary Scouser Jan Molby was another player who struggled to retain a slim physique during his playing days – and not much has changed since then either.
With his snug-fitting shirt and shorts, his manager at Liverpool, Graeme Souness, once said that he is “only player I have ever met who is capable of putting on weight during a football match.”
The great Dane continued to enjoy himself post-retirement, looking somewhat larger than life while playing for the Reds in a charity match in 2013.
Matt Le Tissier
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Another former England player to have taken part in Harry’s Heroes, Southampton great Matt Le Tissier lost nearly two stone during the making of the show.
The 53-year-old was never quite as rotund as some of the other names on this list, but there’s no arguing Le Tissier’s appearance on the ITV show opened his eyes to what he was eating.
“I think it really is just the consumption, portion sizes really, the sizes of the portions I was eating way too many calories and not the right kind of calories,” he said.
“So the biggest thing for me was cutting down portions and having a better balance of protein in my diet, that there probably wasn’t enough of before.”
Davor Suker
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Croatia hero Davor Suker looks relatively trim these days, but it was only three years ago that he looked slightly more spherical than perhaps he ought to have done during a Legends game between Arsenal and Real Madrid.
Suker, who played for West Ham and the Gunners, retired from football in 2003 and showed his belly to full effect while wearing one of the new skin-tight shirts that leaves nothing to the imagination.
Now 53, the 1998 World Cup Golden Shoe winner has his own football school in Zagreb and several other Croatian cities.