5 legendary footballers who went from rich to broke

#3 Paul Gascoigne

Paul Gascoigne of Tottenham Hotspur

Paul Gascoigne was one of England's heroes during the 1990s. He was part of the national team that made it to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 Euros.

Gascoigne played for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Lazio in his prime but he is widely viewed as a player who failed to maximize his potential.

Gascogine struggled with depression and emotional issues in the latter stages of his career. This trickled into his life after retirement and he started being in the news for the wrong reasons. Gascoigne was arrested on various occasions for drunk driving, speeding and for being in possession of hard drugs.

He got into a plethora of unsavory incidents like harassing his ex-girlfriend, racially abusing his black bodyguard and was even arrested for sexual assault in 2018. During this time, he reportedly amassed a debt of £200,000. In 2016, he was handed a £42,000 bill on unpaid taxes but somehow managed to escape bankruptcy.

#2 Ronaldinho

Paris Saint-Germain v RB Leipzig: Group A - UEFA Champions League

Ronaldinho was one of the best players in the world during the 2000s. He was poetry in motion on the football field and was incredibly successful for both club and country. Ronaldinho won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and is remembered for always playing with a smile on his face.

He was one of the most entertaining and exciting players to have graced the game. However, he was not very disciplined away from the pitch. Ronaldinho had a very extravagant lifestyle and in 2018, it was reported that he had just £5 in his bank account.

Ronaldinho had also amassed a debt of £1.75 million by then. He had run into trouble with the Brazilian government for illegal construction in a protected area. Ronaldinho tried remortgaging his property to pay off the debts but it did not bear fruit. As a result, the government had his passport seized.

Ronaldinho then ended up spending some time in a Paraguayan jail in 2020 for trying to enter the country with fake documents.

#1 Diego Maradona

Argentina Training & Press Conference

Diego Maradona is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. The legendary Argentinian was chosen as FIFA's Player of the Century in 2000. He almost single-handedly led La Albiceleste to a World Cup triumph in 1986. But he had a troubled life away from the ground.

In 1991, his drug usage led to him missing several games for Napoli and the club fined him $70,000. Maradona was accused of being involved with crime syndicate Camorra as well, and he got into trouble everywhere he went.

In 2009, Maradona filed for bankruptcy. This came after the Italian Tax Authority demanded the Argentinian pay around £42 million in unpaid taxes from his time as a Napoli player.

But things got slightly better for Maradona afterwards as he reportedly earned $2.7 million from managing Dubai-based club Al-Wasl FC in 2011-12.

Maradona's addiction and alcohol abuse continued and the legend of the game eventually passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in November 2020.