Ex-West Ham midfielder Diego Poyet showcased a radically different look to his playing days in a recent Instagram post.
The 31-year-old is the son of former Tottenham and Chelsea hero Gus Poyet, and enjoyed a football career of his own before retiring in 2020.
The younger Poyet rose through the youth ranks at Charlton, before breaking into their first team in 2014.
He went on to make 23 senior appearances that season, winning the club’s Player of the Year before joining West Ham in the summer that followed.
Poyet would ultimately feature just three times for the Hammers after making his Premier League debut in August 2014.
The tenacious midfielder had loan spells at Huddersfield, MK Dons and Charlton during his time with the east London side.
Following his release, Poyet moved to Argentina to play for Godoy Cruz and then joined Cyprus outfit Pafos, before leaving in 2018 and later calling time on his career after two years without a club.
Muscle machine
A few things have changed in the years since his retirement from football, with Poyet finding a new love for working out.
And the former Uruguay youth international now looks completely unrecognisable from his playing days, boasting a ripped physique.
Back in 2022, Poyet revealed his body transformation with a series of Instagram posts showcasing his bulked-up physique and short hair – a world away from his days as a slim, long-haired footballer.
And he has clearly kept up his fitness regime since then, which he revealed in a recent social media post.
Taking to Instagram, Poyet shared a picture of himself with a shaved head and grown out beard, and still boasting an impressive bodybuilder physique.
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Father and son duo
As well as committing to a disciplined new lifestyle in the gym, Poyet has also remained involved in football since his retirement.
With father Gus being appointed manager of the Greece national team in 2022, Diego joined him in the dugout as assistant manager.
This continued two years later, as Diego then teamed up with his Premier League icon father when he took charge of South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2024.
And while Poyet Junior has been looking to emulate Senior as a coach, Gus revealed their lifestyles are radically different as he gave an insight into his son’s rigid gym routine in 2023.
Discussing Diego’s body transformation, Gus said: “From what I understand, because I’m not a specialist, is he’s 100 per cent in everything that he does – to the top.
“For example, we went to dinner one day and people will have a beer or a glass of wine – no chance. He doesn’t touch alcohol. Never.
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“We finished dinner and we put three or four desserts in the middle; proper, proper desserts. I love them, but he doesn’t touch them.
“So his way of behaving, what his aim is, he’s 100 per cent, he’s not 99 per cent. His way of training, knowing when he needs to grow, when he needs to slim down, when he needs to do a kind of diet, it’s all proper.”
