World Cup barber accidentally revealed Premier League transfer before becoming viral sensation

‘Look good, play good’ is the motto for football’s biggest stars this summer, and one man understands this better than most. 

From Ronaldo’s triangle fringe, to David Beckham’s mohawk and Neymar’s 2018 ‘spaghetti’ look, we all remember the iconic haircuts that see players go down in World Cup folklore.

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And while we haven’t seen anything quite as daring from this summer’s current crop in North America just yet, many of them will point in the same direction for them looking their best.

The man behind the haircuts

For well over a decade now, Sheldon Edwards has carved out a reputation as football’s most recognisable barber.

Better known as the man behind London’s ‘HD Cutz’ barbershop, the 41-year-old has amassed an audience of over 2.2million on Instagram.

This is due in no small part to his star-studded list of clients, with Edwards counting the likes of Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling and Usain Bolt among the superstars whose hair he cuts.

Thanks to the celebrity barber, Phil Foden’s blonde ‘Gazza-inspired’ look stole the show at Euro 2020, and you can expect more of the same over the coming weeks.

For this summer’s World Cup, Edwards is based out on in Los Angeles, where he will take care of his huge list of clients in the footballing world, as he looks to keep them feeling fresh for gameday.

So what’s it like styling some of football’s headline acts? talkSPORT sat down exclusively with Edwards to find out.

American dream

With the US national team based around 40 miles away at the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine, California, top of Edwards’ to-do list has been keeping all of the joint-host nations’ stars looking sharp.

Perhaps his finest, and ‘most challenging’ work so far has been on Weston McKennie, with the midfielder sporting a red, white and blue streak to his hair, inspired by the country’s flag.

Edwards told talkSPORT: “As you can see for Wes, we did the red, the blue and the white to replicate the American flag.

Instagram / hd_cutz_london

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“And look out. You might see something very surprising coming to the next game from one of these guys.”

Speaking to talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs before the USMNT jet off to Seattle for Friday’s clash with Australia, the in-demand barber opened up on the full schedule ahead of him.

Edwards revealed: “I had the option to travel with them [the team], but we’re going to get the hair cuts in before.

“It’s pretty busy from three o’clock today. Everyone will be coming in – from coaching staff to management staff, to doctors, to physios. We do it all, man. We’ve been doing the entire football team.”

This includes manager Mauricio Pochettino, a long-time acquaintance of Edwards’ dating back to the Argentine’s days as Tottenham boss.

He was quick to praise the USA boss’ current look, saying: “Poch, as I would call him. Mauricio, my friend, gaffer, boss – he loves it all.

Instagram / hd_cutz_london

“He’s definitely got a nice hair on his head right there. I love what he’s doing with the detail with the beard at the moment. It’s really working for him.

Edwards added: “When Poch was at Tottenham Hotspur, I was doing like about eight, nine of his prominent players.”

Illustrious company

It is one of Spurs’ most instrumental players from Pochettino’s five-year tenure who Edwards credits for raising his profile.

“One of the players who I could give a lot of credibility to for where I am at the moment is, Mousa Dembele, the Belgium midfielder,” revealed Edwards.

“He was the one that took me on the plane to the to the Euros in 2016 in Bordeaux and to the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

“A whole lot of this to him. And I’ve got to say, thank you very much, Mousa. He doesn’t like that – he’s a very humble guy. He says: ‘You worked yourself through it’.”

Instagram / hd_cutz_london

After being flown out for Euro 2016 in France by Dembele, Edwards list of connections grew, and so too did his profile.

He went on to take care of one of football’s most iconic looks in ex-Roma star Radja Nainggolan, known for his distinct mohawk.

Edwards explained: “I met one player through Mousa Dembele, which is a Radja Nainggolan. 

“These are some of the people that were at the pinnacle of the reason why I’m sitting here today.

For another example, he added: “Antonio Rudiger. I took part in his wedding – me and my family. He became like a brother and the relations keep pondering on.”

THAT Phil Foden haircut

Edwards is also the artist behind Phil Foden‘s bleached hair ahead of Euro 2020, a recreation of Paul Gascoigne’s style at Euro ‘96

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This is arguably HD Cutz’s most viral look, with England’s entire squad all promising to replicate the haircut and dye their blonde if they were successful at the tournament, only to narrowly miss out on glory.

Explaining the process, Edwards revealed: “When it came to the moment when I was doing the Phil Foden blonde, he told me that he wanted to colour his hair. I said: ‘Leave it with me’.

“When we started to colour his hair, he wasn’t even sure what he wanted. And as I say, I’m a person that tries to replicate the kind of respect that people have for me, sitting in front of them as a barber.

“And this kept me up for a couple of nights, when he told me that he wanted to colour his hair. 

“I was sitting there researching online, finding out what colour is best to use, how I can educate myself more, what’s best for him? 

“And it was great to see how it turned out. When I did the Phil Foden blonde, he replicated the Gascoigne and the world went crazy.”

While he Edwards won’t be able to style Foden this summer, following his controversial exclusion form England’s World Cup squad, he credits the haircut for taking his career to new heights.

He added: “In respect to that, I gained hundreds of thousands of followers because of this. I was interviewed by every media outlet in the UK!”

Accidentally revealing transfers

With great power comes great responsibility though, and Edwards’ star-studded list of clients means keeping things a secret at times.

He learnt this the hard way, after accidentally revealing to the world Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s move to Liverpool from Arsenal in 2017.

Explaining the hilarious slip-up, Edwards said: “Oxlade Chamberlain, he just signed for Liverpool.

“I went to the England camp – Raheem Sterling invited me, and I was doing a few England players.

“At this time I was prominent on Snapchat, and I just took my phone up and I just waved it across the elevator. Oxlade Chamberlain was there standing in red [Liverpool colours]. I just put it on my Snapchat, quickly.

“And I was young in the England team. I thought my life was finished, by the way. This was long before HDCutz became this big global name. And I thought my life was finished.

“When I went into the room after placing on my Snapchat, I got to Raheem Sterling, and Chamberlain came in and he was like: ‘What did you do?’ I’m like: ‘What do you mean, bro? What did I do?’

“That picture within the last five minutes became viral because he was standing in a Liverpool kit.

“I announced that he was signed to Liverpool – nobody [else] announced it. The clubs didn’t put it out. But from that Snapchat message, I announced it.”