Marouane Fellaini posted a picture of his new haircut on Wednesday (Photo credit: @Fellaini)

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has opted for an eye-catching haircut ahead of his 31st birthday.

The Belgian, synonymous with his giant hairstyle, posted three pictures of his new trim on Instagram on Wednesday, with the captain "new year, new look #birthday tomorrow".

Manchester United team-mate Eric Bailly commented on the post: "noooooooooooo", while Belgian team-mate and Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany joked: "It's photoshopped, it can't be true!!".

Fellaini has proved to be a big impact sub for United this season (Photo credit: @Fellaini)

Fellaini, who has been at United since 2013, has been a useful impact substitute in recent months for Jose Mourinho, and signed a new contract at the club until 2020 in the summer.

After the 3-1 defeat by Manchester City on Super Sunday, Mourinho noted that United had missed the late impact of Fellaini on the game, having been forced to place him in the starting XI due to an injury to Paul Pogba.

"One of the things that broke a little bit, or a lot, our plan is that Fellaini had to start the game. Fellaini is not in a condition to play 90 minutes, he was phenomenal to do it but he is not in the condition to do it.

"Normally I bring Fellaini to this game in the latest part of the game. Imagine Fellaini fresh coming after the 2-1 with 25 minutes to go, that's an important thing for us."