The life of a professional footballer is often the subject of the media spotlight. Along with the speculation of his future at his current club and the obvious transfer rumours, his personal life also grabs a lot of attention from the media. The models he is dating, the places that he travels to, the luxurious cars and expensive villas that he buys, all of them make into the columns of newspapers.
Apart from the above aspects of luxurious cars and expensive villas, which are pretty much common, there are footballers who have unique interests outside the beautiful game. Some of them pursue those interests along with their career as a professional footballer.
On the bright side, these interests certainly provide an answer to the what after retirement, a question that puzzles a lot of footballers. There are quite a number of current and ex-footballers who have an interest in different businesses and this piece mentions seven of them.
#7 Clarence Seedorf
The Dutch midfield maestro, Clarence Seedorf is the owner of the Japanese restaurant group known as Finger’s. Finger’s opened in Milan in 2004 and now the group run four restaurants and a fifth one is set to open in Dubai. Two of the four restaurants are in Milan, one in Porto Cervo and the last one in France.
The first restaurant became a favourite of the people of Milan in a short span of time after the restaurant had made a name for itself by serving delicious Japanese food and creating a unique ambience. The restaurants in Porto Cervo and France opened for customers in the year 2011 and 2014 respectively. Seedorf’s wife Luviana is one of the partners of this venture
Seedorf played for few of the big guns in Europe like Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan and is currently the manager of Chinese side Shenzhen F.C. He is the only player in history to have won the UEFA Champions league with three different clubs.
#6 Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Gattuso, the former AC Milan player who was an indispensable part of the Rossoneri's midfield in the last decade opened a fish store in January 2010 in Gallarate, Italy.
“Someone might even smile at it, but this fish store is a dream come true for me. I wanted to become a fisherman when I was a child, but life’s events have later driven me in different directions,” he was quoted saying.
The opening was a grand occasion and stars like Ronaldinho and David Beckham showed up for the event. The name of the shop is Gattuso and Bianchi fish shop and, as the name would obviously suggest, Gattuso’s friend Andrea Bianchi is a partner in this business.
Gattuso was an integral part of the Italian side that won the world cup in 2006 and he has also won the Italian Seria A and Uefa champions league twice. He was serving as the manager of Italian side Pisa and helped them secure promotion to Serie B before resigning the job in July.
#5 Andrey Arshavin
Andrey Arshavin former Arsenal player, who was the Gunners’ most expensive signing, holds a degree in fashion designing from the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design.
“When I turned 17, I had to choose which university to attend. My friends and I decided to try for the technology and design institute because there were lots of girls among the students and you didn’t have to study too hard, or so we thought. I enrolled in the chemical technology department. But when I began training with Zenit I had to miss a lot of classes. I transferred to the clothes design department. I have designed several garments myself,” he was quoted saying.
Arshavin’s designs are quite popular among Russian woman. He launched his own clothing line in the year 2010. The logo of the brand is an outline of Arshavin in his usual style of celebration after scoring, holding his forefinger to his lips. The 35-year-old is currently playing for FC Kairat in the Kazakhstan Premier League.
#4 Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand who was the world’s most expensive defender when Leeds signed him in 2000, retired in 2015 shifting his full attention to his numerous business ventures that he had initiated during his playing days.
He owns an Italian restaurant, Rosso, and is a football pundit on BT Sport. Rosso is situated in the popular King’s street in Manchester. Ferdinand also own a clothing line and an online publication called #5 magazine. The magazine’s first issue was launched in April 2009.
The 37-year-old is also known fro his charity works through the Rio Ferdinand Foundation and it's aimed to provide opportunities for education and employment to youngsters. Ferdinand and his former England team-mate Ashley Cole were executive producers of the movie ‘Dead Man Running’ directed by Alex De Rakoff. Ferdinand also created a record label White Chalk Music along with a friend of his.
Ferdinand won 6 Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions league title during his time at Manchester United.
#3 Eric Cantona
The Frenchman who is also known for his controversial Kungfu kick. is one of the best players in the history of Manchester United. Cantona served an 8-match-ban following his Kungfu kick. ‘King Eric’, as Manchester United fans call him, retired from football at the age of 30.
After his retirement, Cantona has acted in a number of movies with the movie ‘Elizabeth’ in 1998 being his first. He performed the character Monsieur De Foix. The Frenchman has acted in over 20 movies till date.
A few of them were huge successes and grossed millions. In the movie ‘Looking for Eric’, Cantona portrayed himself on-screen. Cantona’s performance as the character Corsican in the movie Salvation released in 2014 was impressive. The 50-year-old has also directed a TV documentary and a short film.
During his playing days, he appeared in various Nike commercials and Cantona helped Manchester United win four Premier League titles and 2 FA cups.
#2 Theo Walcott
The 27-year-old Arsenal superstar, who is widely known for his pace, has added some of that charisma into the Children’s stories he wrote.
“I'm really excited to be working on this series. Many of my experiences as a young footballer will be relived by TJ in the stories. Books played an important part in our family life as I was growing up,” he said in 2009. The England international has published 4 books till date titled, ‘T.J. and the Hat-Trick’, ‘T.J. and the Penalty’, ‘ T.J. and the Winning Goal’ and ‘T.J. and the Cup Run’.
They were published by Transworld publishers. The first two books were published in April 2010 and the other two in August 2010. The hero of the series is called TJ and Walcott’s had that as his nickname since he started playing football.
Walcott is the youngest player to feature for the England national football team.
#1 David Beckham
This list would certainly be incomplete without David Beckham. He is the biggest fashion icon among footballers. Beckham’s endorsement deals include Adidas, Armani, Samsung, Diet Coke, Burger King, Breitling, Pepsi and H & M.
The 41-year-old is also one of the 4 owners of a Miami-based MLS team which will soon be a part of the MLS. The purchase of an MLS franchise was one of the clauses in the contract he signed to join the league in 2007.
Beckham retired in the year 2013 but he is earning more than what he did during his career. Beckham's annual earnings in 2015 were $65 according to US magazine Forbes.
“I was a footballer for 22 years but the success I had created something for me off the field as well. This is a passage of my life where I’m going into the business world. It’s a different kind of excitement to stepping on the pitch. Nothing will, or can, replace that,” he was quoted saying.
Beckham resigned from the post of director of his wife’s company, Victoria Beckham limited. He is focused on his company David Beckham Ventures Limited and Beckham Brand Holdings Limited, a joint venture of the couple.
