Marc Cucurella has emphatically denied that he will cut his hair despite Tottenham’s Cristian Romero pulling the Chelsea defender’s locks during Sunday’s tense 2-2 draw between the London rivals.
The £62million addition excelled on his home-debut at Stamford Bridge but was involved in a flashpoint during added time with Spurs’ defender Romero.
While the two players grappled at a corner, Romero was seen to pull Cucurella’s hair, leaving the Spaniard on the floor.
Referee Anthony Taylor halted play, but neither he, nor Mike Dean, who was on VAR duty, saw fit to intervene.
Moments later, the aforementioned corner was headed in by Harry Kane in the 96th minute to rescue a draw for Antonio Conte’s side.
After the incident, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel raged: ‘Since when has it been permitted to pull an opponent’s hair?’
And Cucurella was asked at his official Chelsea unveiling on Wednesday at the Blues’ Cobham training ground whether he would cut his hair as a result.
‘No. Never. This is my style,’ the former Brighton star emphatically replied, outlining that his long hair is here to stay.
The left-sided defender was also asked if the hair pull hurt and whether he could understand why Romero wasn’t punished for the incident.
He said: ‘For me it's clear (what happened). I don't know what happened but sometimes the referee makes a good decision, sometimes it's bad but this is football and it's not my problem - my focus is on the game.
‘Maybe it's not an important action because it doesn't affect the final result, but we meet again in a few months and this is another opportunity.
‘I knew Tottenham was a derby, and the games with them are always difficult, but the team played really good and we created more chances to win the game.’
Romero will not face any disciplinary action for his antics despite the outcry over his actions.
If both the referee, and VAR had missed the incident, the Argentinian defender could be retroactively disciplined for pulling Cucurella's hair.
However, as a VAR check did not find any wrongdoing in the clash, Romero cannot now be charged with violent conduct.
The laws of the game do not mention hair pulling by name, and it is down to the referee's judgement as to whether tugging an opponent by their hair constitutes violent conduct, which is a bookable offence.
During a game between Manchester United and Leicester in 2016, Robert Huth and Marouane Fellaini were both charged with violent conduct by the Football Association, following an incident in which Fellaini struck out at the German defender with his elbow after Huth grabbed his hair.