20 Old & Modern-Day Footballers That Wear Their Socks Extremely Low
Update: There have been a few revelations ever since we first covered this topic. Therefore, we updated this article with around a dozen players that wear / wore their socks extremely low. Especially the section of former players with extremely low socks increased heavily. Thanks to Ahm65, ClausTrofob, David Hillier's suitcase, George W. Peterson, Panzergrenadier and ptee.
This season, a very interesting trend emerged amongst the playmakers of top clubs since 5 key players of big clubs started wearing their socks extremely low. In fact, players like Grealish even wear their socks lower than their shinpads which results in a very uncommon appearance.
In this article, we try to mention every major player that is overly exposing his shinbone and calfs as a quid pro quo for more mobility and an arguably better touch. It is very well possible that football socks become a problem for top-notch athletes with remarkable calfs, but there also other solutions like cutting holes into the fabric for pressure relief.
Disclaimer: All in all, this problem of oversized calfs is exclusive to professional football and we do not recommend trying this out in a regular lower-league match to prevent serious injuries.
Players That Wear Their Socks Extremely Low
Off the top of my head, there are five players that immediately stand out and they all share similar playmaking abilities although their positions and duties vary greatly in modern-day football: Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, Juventus' Paulo Dybala, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - Right-Back - Liverpool
Rodrigo de Paul - Central Midfield - Udinese Calcio
Memphis Depay - Left Winger - Olympique Lyonnais
Paulo Dybala - Second Striker - Juventus FC
Jack Grealish - Attacking Midfield - Aston Villa
Marek Hamsik - Central Midfield - Dalian Professional
Lorenzo Insigne - Left Winger - SSC Napoli
Pedri - Attacking Midfield - Barcelona
Emile Smith Rowe - Central Midfield - Arsenal
Deyovaisio Zeefuik - Right-Back - Hertha BSC
Bonus | Former Players With Extremely Low Socks
We can only remember two former players that also wore their socks extremely low: Rui Costa and Alexander Paulavich Hleb. If you know anybody else that did this feel free to let us know.
Laurent Blanc - Centre-Back - Barcelona, Inter, Manchester United
Mauro Cantoro - Attacking Midfield - Vélez Sarsfield, Wisla Kraków
Steve Claridge - Centre-Forward - Leicester, Portsmouth, Wolves
Rui Costa - Sporting Director - Benfica, AC Milan
Alexander Paulavich Hleb - Attacking Midfield - VfB Stuttgart, Arsenal, Barcelona
Sören Lerby - Central Midfield - Ajax, Bayern Munich, Monaco, PSV Eindhoven
Gerd Müller - Centre-Forward - Bayern Munich
Omar Sívori - Second Striker - River Plate, Juventus, Napoli
Francesco Totti - Second Striker, Centre-Forward, Attacking Midfield - AS Roma
Juan Sebastián Verón - Central Midfield - Chelsea, Inter, Manchester United
Did we forget any players that wear their socks ridiculously low? Is there a theme of certain players that make this conscious decision? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
