The World’s Most Financially Savvy Football Players

Fernando Torres

Estimated personal wealth: £15m ($25m)
Value of each senior league goal: £118,000 ($192,000)

Lucrative Deals and Assets
While his companions were signing endorsement deals for razor blades, video games and sports clothing, Fernando Torres appeared in an advert for a dog training centre near Madrid. He’s also appeared in a Spanish music video. While these weren’t his most profitable activities outside the world of football, they certainly helped elevate him into God-like status in his native Spain.

Gary Neville

Estimated personal wealth: £14m ($23m)
Value of each senior league goal: £2.8m ($4.6m)

Lucrative Deals and Assets
Long-time Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville is on about £70,000 ($115,000) per week. Aside from his football earnings, his income is derived from a column in the Daily Mail, a Pepsi endorsement deal and a Diadora contract. Instead of a supercar he drives an environmentally-friendly Prius, and he’s selling his Bolton house for £6m ($9.8m) while he builds an eco-home embedded in a Lancashire hillside.

Lee Johnson

Estimated personal wealth: £2m ($3.2m)
Value of each senior league goal: £59,000 ($95,800)

Lucrative Deals and Assets
The Bristol City midfielder was brave to buy an £890,000 ($1.5m) Victorian house during the price slump of 2009. After spending just £94,000 ($153,000) on renovations, it sold for £1.2m ($2m). Having proved that he can make a healthy profit even during a recession, he intends to buy a further twenty properties in the Bristol area.

John Norman “Johnny” Haynes

Estimated personal wealth: £250,000 ($400,000)
Value of each senior league goal: £1,700 ($2,700)

Lucrative Deals and Assets
His personal fortune might seem dwarfed by the others on this list, but Haynes was the first footballer to be paid an astronomical wage. On January 18, 1961, it was announced that there would no longer be a £20 ($31) cap on footballers’ weekly wages. This was the result of a strike by players all over the country, some of whom hoped for wages of around £40 ($63). Haynes managed to wrangle a £100 ($160) per week contract – a veritable fortune at the time.
He also had a profitable endorsement deal with Brylcream worth £1,500 ($2,400) a year, and a contract with the Milk Marketing Board. He played for England and made 494 appearances for Fulham.

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