Today’s football stars are addicted to investing in property portfolios.
“OK, so let’s address this,” wrote Marcus Rashford on Twitter. “I came from little. I need to protect not just my future but my family’s too. To do that I made a decision to start investing more in property. Please don’t run stories like this along to refs to campaigning.”
The 23-year-old Manchester United and England footballer was responding to media reports revealing that he recently bought five properties expected to be used as buy-to-let investments with the – quite wrong – suggestion that he was somehow able to do so because he profited from his high-profile campaign for free school meals for children during lockdown and school holidays.
The idea of a star footballer pointing to canny real estate as proof of his moral worth would have seemed absurd even ten years ago. Footballers did not buy houses, far less became investors. They bought Bentleys, racehorses and pubs or frittered it all away.
Today Premier League players, who can earn up to £350,000 a week, are among the most prolific property investors. David Beckham’s holdings stretch from Dubai, through London and Oxfordshire to Miami and Beverly Hills. His former teammate Gary Neville has developed hotels, restaurants, and is building a £200 million development, near Manchester’s iconic Beetham Tower.
Wayne Rooney once complained that Neville was badgering him to buy one of his houses: “I don’t know how many he has, or whether he was boasting or winding me up, but he kept telling me about these properties he had.”
The former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler has acquired such a large portfolio of buy-to-let homes around Merseyside that the club’s fans sing, “We all live in a Robbie Fowler House” to the tune of Yellow Submarine!
Earlier this year he announced plans to build hundreds more new homes between the city centre and Anfield. His bricks and mortar business is thought to be worth £60 million. He now provides tips to wannabe investors through the Robbie Fowler Property Academy, which holds workshops.
The former Chelsea captain and now Aston Villa coach John Terry has made almost £25 million in property deals. He has been granted planning permission to bulldoze one of his Surrey mansions and replace it with two new luxury homes – a move that could net him another £20 million.
Terry’s former teammate and Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has built a £40 million property portfolio. As well as his home in Chelsea, he owns three flats in London’s Docklands, two houses in Cambridge, a Surrey pile and a four-bedroom house in Barcelona. Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling are also keen property investors.
Why do today’s players want to invest for the future during their playing career, rather than retiring and buying a pub as their predecessors did? “The game has changed completely,” says Trevor Kearney, a leading property agent who acts for footballers, among them John Terry.
“There’s much more money for players to perform on the pitch, and off the pitch the old days of players bingeing booze has been replaced by discipline about fitness, lifestyle and nutrition. That same discipline also influences investments.”
But why rows of terraced houses, rather than say stocks and shares, vintage cars or wines? “It’s an asset class they understand,” says Kearney. “These are generally working class guys who suddenly find themselves in a world of wealth. They’re not sure about equities or investment trusts but they know all about bricks and mortars. It was their and their parents’ aspiration to own a house. Now that they are earning big bucks they can.”
Clubs also encourage players to put down roots by settling down with their wives or girlfriends. “I get calls all the time saying ‘We have a young lad who has a bright future. Can you just come in and have a chat with him about buying the right kind of home in the right kind of area?’” says one Manchester property agent.
Andrew Thorpe, director of residential at Savills Wilmslow says: “You can hardly kick a ball in the Cheshire towns of Hale, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Knutsford without hitting a Premier League star.”
Managers steer players towards the leafy suburbs, far from the temptations of city centre nightclubs and bars. When he was Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho used to demand that players live within three miles of the club’s Surrey base in Cobham.
All players want the same property, agents say. It must have new or nearly new interiors. A pool with a home spa is a must and limitless high-speed wifi everywhere. “When they are not playing for real against each other, they are playing Fifa against each other,” says one London based agent.
Apart from Robbie Fowler, who prefers Monopoly!
Source: The Sunday Times
