did you know that the greatest footballer of all time died poor he left no inheritance for his children and there was almost no money in his bank account at the time of his death he lost everything but before we get to that let's start with another World Cup winner who was left handicapped in the middle of his career Paul Pogba a name synonymous with football greatness reached the Pinnacle of his career in 2018 he won the World Cup and celebrated triumphantly with his family but behind the scenes a darker story was unfolding after the final in Moscow pog 's elder brother Maas stole the spotlight seemingly happy for his brother's success and his country's Victory however Paul Pogba would soon discover that family that you think are happy for you are the ones who can destroy you the same man who celebrated pogba's Victory along with Paul's childhood friends had attempted to extort $13 million from him a million dollars for each year of his professional career the plot only failed because the bank flagged the transaction as suspicious Paul Pogba was forced to pay ,000 at gunpoint but Maas and his associates were not satisfied when Paul refused to bow to further demands Maas released a bombshell video on social media alleging that Paul Pogba had hired a witch to cast spells on his teammates including Killian mbappe maybe the spell is the reason mbappe did not win the Champions League with PSG Matias Pogba might know better the Scandal triggered the football world but Paul pogba's fans stood by him unfortunately his troubles were far from over while sidelined with an injury at Juventus Pogba was randomly selected for a doping test the results were devastating he failed punishment was a 4-year ban from football Paul Pogba who was at the height of his career now faces a Long Road to Redemption he won't be eligible to return until he is 34 sounds like the end of his career but he didn't land in prison like number two the ever smiling Ronaldinho was at one time the highest paid player in the world in 2006 he earned over $19 million from endorsement deals he had endorsements with Nike Coca-Cola EA Sports Pepsi and Dannon every company wanted something to do with him because he was loved even by those who were supposed to be his enemies the ball listens to him and his ability to do magic with it earned him a standing ovation at the bernabo he was a proud winner of the World Cup and the Champions League while amassing great wealth and creating a name for himself he was also preparing to destroy everything he loves partying Ronaldinho is known for clubbing with multiple women and that didn't stop after his shocking retirement in January 2018 soon after his retirement the Brazilian wanted to marry his two girlfriends at an unofficial ceremony but the plans ended when the media couldn't stop talking about it but the Brazilian star kept both relationships and even had separate bedrooms with the two ladies he had two ladies in his life but the playmaker wanted more and more ladies to flirt with until his two girlfriends left him he spent so much money on these ladies but was not paying paying his taxes in July 2019 57 of his properties and his Brazilian and Spanish passports were confiscated because of unpaid taxes and fines when the judge asked him and his brother to pay a fine of 6 million R they couldn't pay and investigation into their bank accounts revealed that the once wealthy player was left with only $5 that was quite surprising for a man whose net worth was about $125 million at the time of his retirement but his woes were far from over in March 2020 the Brazilian alongside his brother was arrested in Paraguay for entering the country with a fake passport they were only released after paying $1. 6 million us as part of a plea deal but how did he pay the money if he had no money former teammates at Barcelona and Brazil could be responsible for his release from prison the millionaire lost everything but not his smile and his magical feet while in prison he competed in a prison footall tournament guess the team that won you guess correctly Ronald team won 11 goals to two with the former Barcelona player scoring five goals and assisting the other six although he left Paraguay as a broke man somehow managed to leave his prison mates happy he only lost his money but not the respect of fans unlike number three the game of soccer is incomplete without a mention of the only man who has won 13 Premier League titles Ryan Giggs is a symbol of football loyalty after playing his entire career at Manchester United the fans loved him and the younger players looked up to him but but Ryan Giggs his loyalty ends on the pitch with United and no atom of it follows the player home which made him lose everyone's respect how did it happened in March 2003 the football star met Natasha at a nightclub and spent the night with her while his then pregnant fiance was at home that might not be so bad but two months later Roger Ryan Giggs his brother started dating Natasha Giggs respected his brother's relationship initially but one year into it they resumed the sexual relationship meeting in hotel rooms and vacant properties Natasha was a real estate agent and had access to several vacant properties Giggs was always ready to render his Services whenever called upon but the worst is yet to happen the sexual relationship continued until 2005 when Natasha had her first baby for rogy but Ryan Giggs didn't know when to take a break the messy Affair continued for the next 8 years and she even aborted a baby for Ryan Giggs 2 weeks before her wedding to rogery Giggs two weeks Yes you heard that right and they would have continued longer if Ryan was able to stick to one cheating partner in 2011 Natasha discovered that Giggs was also having an affair with a Welsh model she couldn't take it and blew the whistle about their affair she opened the can of worms and reports of Giggs as other secret Affairs were flying in from all angles one lady who worked with Manchester United described him with these words Giggs had a certain type of ladies that he went for and if there was a party at the club and some of them were going to be there you could bet your last pound that so too would Giggs even the football star knew who he was during one of his trials he told the judge that he was a Flirt by Nature Giggs is affair with his brother's wife ruined his relationship with his family his father said he was ashamed of him and his brother Roger mocked him in a Patty power advert Roger's marriage to Natasha would later end in 2013 after a failed attempt to keep the family united Ryan's marriage to Stacy also ended later the gigs his family cut ties with Ryan after the news broke out and he has been trying to men ties since then because family is everything the pieces are still scattered and he hopes to get everything back someday but number Ford lost things he could never recover Emanuel IBO was on the same team as tiar enri and earned millions of dollars during his playing days at Arsenal he drove flashy cars and lived in a mansion after his impressive career in England he moved to galatas earning about $1. 5 million yearly in all these he found love in the arms of arai a Belgian lady the ivorian felt secure in her arms and let her do all the money management technically his wife was his accountant which is understandable because of eway's poor educational background he would sign every document from her and one day he unknowingly signed all his properties in England to his wife disaster struck when after the right back's career the two became involved in a bitter divorce battle on reaching the court eway realized that the woman he trusted most had deceived him into signing a document that transferred all his properties to her name after the messy divorce AR was awarded all their assets and EO watched painfully as the results of his hard work slip from his hands at the time he said he couldn't even afford the money to continue to have any lawyer or Barrister he even said he was scared of living in his apartment because he did not know when the police would come he said my own house I suffered to buy my house but I am now scared I'm not going to sell my clothes or sell what I have I will fight until the end because it is not fair he was depressed and contemplating suicide before his former Club Galatasaray offered him a coaching job with the youth team later as the years pass Ebu manages to regain his life he's remarried to his childhood sweetheart and currently runs a football Academy in the Ivory Coast he said these have helped him regain his lost happiness but number five might not regain his happiness and respect with 43 trophies Danny Alvis is the second most decorated football player with only one trophy behind Leonel Messi his time at Barcelona was marked by beautiful goals and assists the club's golden generation is incomplete without a mention of his name but the love and admiration soon turned into hatred when on January 20th 20123 the catalon police arrested the Brazilian and charged him with sexual assault for a sexual affair with an unknown lady 3 weeks earlier at a Barcelona nightclub Alves initially denied the accusation but DNA from the scene showed the Brazilian had something to do with it the unknown lady's account of the events matched with the result of investigators and there was no way out for the start he admitted to sleeping with the lady but insisted that it was consensual when asked why he lied about the incident at first he said he did so because he wanted to save his marriage his biggest fear became a reality after admitting the affair and his wife was quick to demand a divorce still broken by an imminent divorce his Club at the time UNAM Pumas terminated the player's contract and demanded a compensation of 4.
5 million EUR from him for what was described as very serious infractions of his contract the termination meant Alves had lost about €50,000 for image and publicity rights one after the other every contract with the Brazilian was being terminated Adidas the clothing giant one times Partners a major bding company hiia Saud a Brazilian insurance company and Etha another clothing firm all parted ways with the player the economic muscle of Danny Alves was weakened Beyond imagination something more important was also damaged his relationship with friends and the fans all he did for the Brazilian national team was erased in seconds as football fans at home were calling for the removal of his status inazo the love was replaced by hatred and even his teammates kept their distance because no one wanted to be associated with the rapist Felipe Melo a Brazilian player who played with Alves even said he have to pay for what he did Alves was all alone and despite the effort of his lawyers to save him he was found guilty of rape on February 22nd 2024 and sentenced to 4 and A2 years in prison immediately Barcelona retired him from The Legend section of the club although he had up to1 1 million EUR to bail himself one month later the name he made for himself after over two decades of impressive football was gone and gone forever he went from a legend to a rapist but which is better going from a legend to a rapist or from the greatest of all time to a poor Argentine like number six Diego meridana is arguably the greatest footballer of all time although he scored a World Cup winning goal with his hand his dribbles and solo goals are admired to this day he earned millions of Euros during his playing days at Napoli and Barcelona he even made more money after retirement from his coaching career and endorsement deals but at the time of his death he had only €75,000 in his bank account so what happened to all the wealth he accumulated meridana was a drug addict he began using cocaine in 1983 when playing at Barcelona when he joined Napoli his addiction was already full-blown which affected his footballing career in 1991 and 19 94 the Argentine was banned from football for abusing drugs he had an unstable career until he retired from the game meridana had another major problem and it is difficult to tell if it was as a result of his drug addiction he was super generous and people took advantage of his generosity an Argentine journalist who had been close to the legend said Madonna's wealth was squandered because of his pierced hands and largely stolen to trick him and empty his pockets all they had to do was ask and he gave his lawyer Angelo pan con also said he lived Beyond his means and was very generous if you want to know where his money went talk to the people who surrounded him and used him he never had more than 100 in his pocket his close associate said the former millionaire died poor despite his lucrative playing and managerial career and left almost no money for his children as inheritance some have argued that his Acts were deliberate in his final years he said I know that now as you get older people are more concerned about what you leave behind than what you are doing and I tell them all that I'm not going to leave them anything that I'm going to give it all away everything I've got in my life I'm going to give away what do you think was it Madonna's will to die poor number seven wanted to live like maradana when he had very little Wes Brown was one of the silent hard workers at Manchester United but the fullback earned less than half the salaries of Rio Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo Brown was one of the lowest earners at the club when compared to his peers he earned about 50,000 weekly but his longevity at the club made many believe he was earning big money he earned millions of dollars throughout his career but unlike most stars he had very little or no endorsements if he had managed his little money properly he still would have lived comfortably but he thought his salary was enough to live extravagantly after all his teammates were having good times buying flashy cars wrist watches and properties that were not even needed maybe he forgot that these players were earning five or six times his salary he copied the lifestyle of his Rich teammates and bought unnecessary properties with the little money he had he bought a farm where his wife lived for about €7 million and later realized that it was a poor investment decision when he wanted to sell the property he tried all he could do to sell the farm for the same amount he bought it but there was no buyer for it even after lowering the price to about 4. 75 million e there was still no buyer another property had was listed at €4. 5 million but after 7 years of listing there was no buyer a buyer finally came when the property was listed for €2.
4 million almost half the price there was still another problem Brown's wife Leanne thought they were richer than they were she thought marrying a footballer meant owning a bank 2019 she said yes we've got a lovely life and all this money and I'm not saying the money isn't great but when you're in it you're living in this bubble there was even a time she bought a jumpsuit worth €2,000 and announced it she gladly spent her husband's money but with his permission though Brown's wife who was part of a TV show during his husband's playing days would introduce herself saying I married a footballer I live in a fairly big house I would say it's worked out well West Brown's attitude towards money and that of his wife drained their wealth and a costly divorce finished whatever was left in the player's bank account when a bankruptcy application was filed against him it took seconds for the high court to approve it when asked about why he was unable to safeguard his wealth he said he was surrounded by the wrong people in his earlier years his ex-wife said they went from grace to Grass because people took advantage of them the star who once lived in in a mansion and drove exotic cars is now living in a modest apartment thanks to former teammates Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick who would not let their old friend down his situation might be bad but number eight is just waiting for his death Craig Bellamy played for some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League including Liverpool Manchester City and West Ham although his paychecks were mouthwatering the player was never moved by money during an interview he said when I was a young player starting at Norwich my biggest fear was money I was always wary of it I didn't want to end up with a lot of money but no career I would give you all the money as long as I could keep my career I always thought money would be the devil it would distract me to a point where I would lose my Hunger the footballer despite being wealthy avoided even his own money and left everything in the hands of allies he didn't know where his money was and those in charge spent them like they were papers he volunteered himself to be exploited he said he never gambled all his life except that he gambled on people whoever was in charge of Bellamy's wealth made failed investment decisions including a wasteful purchase of properties in London the only known assets purchased by Bellamy were five wristwatches to Mark landmarks in his life he is only left with one of the wristwatches as the other four have been used to offset some debts whenever he had money Bellamy gave out without thinking twice because he would feel guilty to say no one time his best friend ripped him off after spending so much to make his life better most painfully these friends and unsolicited financial advisers had abandoned him because the money was finished although he is currently the head coach of Burnley following the departure of Vince and Company to Bayern Munich he has not recovered from the thought that everything he worked for was mismanaged because he thought money was the devil he said the last 5 or six years on death row just waiting for someone to put me out I've been waiting for the cell door to open and someone to say today's the day he even said bankruptcy was a relief for him Bellamy wants the young players to learn from his mistakes and learn how to say no when it is not convenient to give he also wants players to be in control of their so they won't be vulnerable like him but the reason number nine lost all his wealth is even more surprising he was making babies when he was supposed to be playing football in 2009 drena was playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid he had a promising career and he saw himself like a god he said I felt like a god at Real Madrid playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and I'm proud of it in his first year at Real Madrid drena earned €1. 4 million as salary and another € 430,000 as a on bonus money was not his problem and if he continued the way he was more and more Millions would have found their way into his bank account but instead of training and concentrating on the game drena was having fun making babies women have always been a very big reason for the money disappearing drena said during an interview he had three children with his first wife and married another lady whom he claimed he fell in love with and they had a son in total he has six children with three women six children are not so many but for drena they were the results of his lack of concent conentration the money dran didn't spend on women he squandered on holidays and nice cars at one time he said had I shown more dedication I might still be playing high level football similar to Cristiano Ronaldo he didn't use to party a lot back in the day if he had done so he'd have retired from football by now drenan knew his indiscipline was the cause of his woes and even before his retirement he was already swimming in financial crisis his effort to regain his balance all in play for Everton reading and Sheffield but his Peak had passed and there was almost nothing he could do to redeem himself in 2020 the former Real Madrid star was declared bankrupt after losing his fortune worth € 3.