Top 5 Sugar Daddies in World Football

A lot of football clubs have hugely benefited from their billionaire owners. These owners have spent a chunk of their personal wealth towards improving the clubs they own. FIFA's Financial Fair Play rules have been constantly ridiculed by these "sugar daddies". Here is a list of 5 men who have spent ridiculous amounts of money on their teams.

#1 Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

It can be safely said that Manchester City owe much of their success to their generous benefactor Sheikh Mansour. The 43-year-old is worth around $31 billion and has spent over half a billion in rebuilding Manchester City since he acquired it through his company Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) in September 2008. Mansour has permitted the club's managers to spend whatever it takes to make the club a success.

City have seen players such as Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Vincent Kompany arrive at the club under Mansour's ownership. Many of these players have been instrumental in making City the force they are today and helped them win the FA Cup in 2011 which was their first trophy since 1968. City won their first Premier League in a long time in 2012 and are one of the favourites to win it again this year. The Manchester club would be nowhere today if it wasn't for Sheikh Mansour.

Buy the new 2014/15 kits here

#2 Roman Abramovich

Chelsea are another club to benefit from their owner's billions. The London club have had their greatest successes under Abramovich's ownership. The Russian, who is currently the 50th richest man in the world, purchased the club in 2003 and quickly transformed them into one of the most successful teams in the world.

Cheslea have won 11 trophies including 3 Premier Leagues, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 1 Champions League and 1 Europa League. The 47-year-old helped the club purchase notable players like Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Petr Cech, Juan Mata, David Luiz and Eden Hazard who have all helped fire Chelsea to success. The Blues will continue to pull in world class players as long as Abramovich is their owner.

Buy the new 2014/15 kits here

#3 Ahmad Al Sayed

The Qatar investment Authority headed by Ahmad Al Sayed have changed the fortunes of Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint Germain. Al Sayed has helped PSG bring world class players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Edinson Cavani, Thago Motta, Thiago Silva, Yohan Cabaye and Lucas Moura to the club in the past two years.

Paris Saint Germain won their first Ligue 1 title in nearly a decade with these players and are now one of the most powerful clubs in Europe. PSG are already in the last 16 of the Champions League and look certain to progress further in the coming weeks. They will almost certainly make more big money buys this summer.

Buy the new 2014/15 kits here

#4 Dmitry Rybolovlev

Monaco have really been transformed since they regained promotion to Ligue 1 last year due to the efforts of Russian billionaire Dimitry Rybolovlev who purchased the club in 2011. Rybolovlev pumped a lot of money into the club which helped them buy notable players like Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho and Eric Abidal.

These players have injected new life into Monaco, who currently trail PSG by 8 points in Ligue 1. Rybolovlev is sure to spend more money this summer and increase his club's chances of succeeding in the Champions League next year. Monaco are certainly giving PSG a run for their money under his ownership.

Buy the new 2014/15 kits here

#5 Suleyman Kerimov

The Russian billionaire purchased Anzhi Makhachkala, which is his hometown club, in 2011 and spent a huge amount of cash in order to bring some top talents to the club. Kerimov brought 22 new players to the club since 2011 including Roberto Carlos, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Lacina Traore and Lassana Diarra.

Although most of these players left the club they did help Anzhi win the Russian Cup in 2013 along with leading them to a third place finish in the Russian First Division. Kerimov makes it a point to treat his players royally - going as far as to gift ex-Real Madrid left-back and former Anzhi captain Roberto Carlos a Bugatti Veyron for his 38th birthday.

Buy the new 2014/15 kits here

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor