Football is the number one sport in the world. And even if in other sports there are rich and famous athletes, the richest and most famous characters in the world of sport are the football players. Many would like to know where and in what homes their idols live. ee24.com goes to meet the wishes of readers and presents a selection of houses that belong to the highest paid players in the world.
1. David Beckham. Mansion in Hertfordshire, €14,000,000
The most famous English football player of the 2000s earned as much as €36,000,000 for the 2012/13 season, according to France Football. Even at the beginning of his career David was a fairly paid player, which enabled him in 1999 to buy a luxury mansion in Hertfordshire, called by the people the "Buckingham Palace." The palace, located on a plot of 7 acres, built in 1930, was bought by David and his wife Victoria for €3,000,000. It has seven bedrooms, a studio room, a billiard room and a spacious gym. Not so long ago ee24.com said that Beckhams had sold the mansion for €14,000,000 and moved to Beverly Hills.
2. Lionel Messi. House in Barcelona, €2,000,000 - €3,700,000
The best footballer of the World Lionel Messi earned €35,000,000 for the last season. The brilliant striker is renowned for its exceptional modesty. When it was time to acquire his own housing, the athlete gained the four-room duplex with a garden in the exclusive area of Pedralbes in Barcelona. The house cost Messi just €2,000,000. In addition to the four bedrooms the house has three bathrooms and a garage for two cars. Now acording to globepics.net Messi's home costs €3,700,000.
Also, the Argentine was caught at the center of the scandal over the construction of a house in the shape of a soccer ball, which the athlete allegedly ordered to the famous architect Luis de Garrido. The family of the football player had to intervene in the situation and issue a denial.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo. Villa in Madrid, €5,300,000
The leader of "Real" Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo took the third place in the ranking of the football richmen, earning €30,000,000. Footballer ownes several homes. The first mansion the Portuguese striker bought immediately after the transition from the English "Manchester United". It is located not far from the residence of the former club president Ramon Calderon.
Recently, amid rumors of Ronaldo is moving to another team, the footballer put up for sale his villa La Finca in Madrid. Cristiano plans to raise €5,300,000 from the sale of the mansion with 7 bedrooms, two swimming pools and gardens.
4. Samuel Eto'o. Mansion in London
On the fourth line of the rankings is Samuel Eto'o, who earned €24,000,000 for the previous season. The penthouse of Cameroonian striker was located in one of the skyscrapers in Moscow and has 4 floors. The total floor area is greater than 1,000 square meters. The club rented the apartment for €80,000 per month. This season, Eto'o moved to "Chelsea" (London) and is rumored to live in one of the mansions at Great Brampton House.
5. Neymar. House in Barcelona, rent €18,000 per month
The Brazilian prodigy Neymar earned €20,000,000 the last season in "Santos". His transfer in Barcelona made him to search for a new home. The main criterion for finding the location of the house was not far from the home stadium of "Barcelona", the "Camp Nou". Initially, the Brazilian wanted to settle in the former home of Ronaldinho, but the tenants refused to move out.
The options of buying one of their luxury homes in Pedralbes, San Just Desvern and Esplugues in Gava Mar and Mount Castelldefels - next to his teammates houses, were discussed. However, all these options have been rejected by the family of a football player.
In the end, it was decided to postpone the purchase, and Neymar was settled in a rented club house area of 1000 square meters, with a huge swimming pool, 5 bedrooms, garage for 8 cars and excellent views of the main stadium of the city. The cost of rent is €18,000 per month.
6. Wayne Rooney. Palace in Prestbury, €13,200,000
Next comes Wayne Rooney, the star of the "Manchester United" and England, with an annual salary of €18 million. Wayne built for himself a palace for €4,600,000. Earlier another building was located in this place, on the demolition of which Rooney spent another million. The palace is located in the village of Prestbury, Cheshire . There is even a small stadium in the estate. That's love for football! According to globepics.net, Rooney's house costs about €13,200,000.
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic. House in Paris
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a superstar of the world football for a year spent in "PSG " earned €17,500,000. The Swedish striker bought a house in one of the most prestigious areas of Paris - Villa Montmorency. Now, the famous football player lives next door to Nicolas Sarkozy, the singers Celine Dion and Mylene Farmer, as well as a myriad of influential businessmen, tycoons and other high society.
Earlier in 2007, the footballer sold the villa in Malmö, which belonged to him, for €3,000,000. Real estate in the south of the country was sold after Ibra decided not to return to live in Sweden. Ibrahimovic also owns a large house in the center of Milan, acquired during the years of playing for local clubs.
8. Fernando Torres. Mansion in Surrey, €4,500,000
Closes the group of the richest footballers the forward of "Chelsea" Fernando Torres with €16,300,000. Footballer owns an exquisite mansion in Oxshott village in the county of Surrey. The house is not far from the club's training ground, which of course affected the choice of the name of the object. In addition the captain of "Chelsea" John Terry, lives nearby. The house has six bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, an elevator and a wing for servants. The house cost €4,500,000.
9. Gareth Bale. House in Madrid, rent €12,000 per month
Welsh footballer Gareth Bale, sensationally converted to "Real Madrid" for €100,000,000, quickly found a decent housing. Star player rents a house in the prestigious village of La Finca, in the west of Madrid, in the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcon. This house belongs to a former football player of "Real Madrid", brazilian Kaka, who this summer moved to "Milan". Bale lives near teammates Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Angel Di Maria.
10. Andres Iniesta. House in Fuentealbile, €3,400,000
The genius of the gold Barcelona's squad Andres Iniesta even off the field remains faithful to the club. This can be seen by looking at the front of his house, located in Fuentealbile, the native village of the midfielder. Just above the door hangs a large sign with the name of a football player and a game room. Inside the house also resembles a museum of the club - the interiors are decorated in blue and garnet colors, while the bottom of the pool is lined with mosaics as a club emblem.
Out of competition
11. Luis Suarez. House in Woolton
Out of the competition is the notorious for his wild antics on the field forward of "Liverpool" Luis Suarez. Uruguayan settled in a house belonging to Fernando Torres before his departure for London, located in the village of Woolton. The house has four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, kitchen and garage for four cars.
12. Gary Neville. Eco-house in Bolton
Perhaps the most original in terms of arrangement of family life can be called Gary Neville, who built an underground eco-house on the slopes of the Pieniny Mountains in Bolton (UK). All the life-support system at home is well in tune with nature, without inflicting harm emissions and waste. An aerial view, organically integrated into the natural landscape pyatilistny huge flower can be taken as a mysterious character left by space aliens...
13. Jose Mourinho. Apartment in London
Jose Mourinho became the highest-paid coach of the last year, who received €14,000,000 this season. The Special returned to London to train "Chelsea" but couldn't return to his former London home. As soon as the coach departed to "Real," his town house, located at Eaton Terrace, 10, in London's prestigious Belgravia, was bought by russian forward Pavel Pogrebnyak. The purchase cost footballer €7,500,000, while Mourinho began to look for a new home.
Despite the fact that the manager owns the apartment in West London, purchased back in 2012, Mourinho intends to acquire a spacious home in his favorite area of Belgravia, which could accommodate not only himself, but also his wife and two children.
Text: Ivan Ulitin, ee24.com