Former Arsenal full-back Nelson Vivas looks unrecognisable with silver hair as Diego Simeone’s assistant at Atletico Madrid.
Vivas can be regularly seen at the Wanda Metropolitano alongside his compatriot – but eagle-eyed Gunners fans might have remembered his short spell in north London. However, you’d be forgiven for not recognising Vivas, with the 52-year-old looking drastically different.
Vivas’ scruffy dark brown hair has been replaced by a cool silver slick-back in the years he’s taken out of the limelight. Vivas spent three years at Arsenal before leaving for Inter Milan in 2001 and then returning home to Argentina to hang up his boots.
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Vivas has the unenviable task of replacing Simeone’s “attack dog” German Burgos as the Argentine’s assistant manager.
Burgos cut one of the most terrifying figures in football, with the 6ft”2 former keeper with long hair and a bushy beard regularly making fourth officials freeze with fear. However, Burgos wanted to pursue his own dreams of management, and he left in 2019.
Vivas, who had already been Simone’s assistant at Estudiantes de La Plata, River Plate and San Lorenzo, was given the job after Burgos’ departure.
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(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking of his time at Arsenal, Vivas said: “Arsene Wenger was a total manager, not just taking care of tactics, but of every little thing.
“It has been years since I have been there, but I could still tell you, with pinpoint accuracy, the whereabouts of everything at the club’s training ground, which Arsene carefully designed right down to the tiniest detail.”
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