I played for Chelsea, am worth more than Lionel Messi and Cristiano. Few people in the world have the financial capacity to buy Manchester United, but one footballer could.
Chelsea Online News:
It is no secret that the top professionals lead luxurious lives while earning enormous salaries, yet not all of them become billionaires.
Of course, not many of them are royals, like Faiq Bolkiah, who is likely the wealthiest footballer in the world with a net worth of Β£16 billion ($20 billion), as of the last Marca report in 2020.
In order to put it into perspective, it is frequently stated that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo earn a far more salary among all players each year.
According to estimates by the Express, Lionel Messi is worth Β£511 million and Cristiano Ronaldo is worth about Β£412 million.
That comes to less than a billion dollars, which is a small portion of Bolkiah’s overall net worth. Not bad for someone who has participated in the Chelsea, Leicester, and Southampton academies.
And given that the Glazers are asking Β£6 billion for Manchester United, the teenager could afford to buy the team twice more and still have money left over.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who are the front-runners to buy the club, might have something to say about that.
While the Bruneian royal family has shown no interest, they could easily blow both of the prospectors out of the water, but Bolkiah is focused on his football.
Faiq never had to work a day in his life because he was the nephew of Brunei’s Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, but that didn’t stop him from achieving his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
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While Bolkiah has acknowledged that leaving England was a mistake for his football career, it is unclear whether he would ever return to Europe. It could be easier for him to hang up his boots and continue living as a member of the Brunei royal family.
βMaritimo said to me βyouβll come here, youβll playβ so I said βI just want to be here for a year. The main thing for me is I want to play.β Obviously, that didnβt happen,β he told the Main Stand earlier this year.
βI definitely regret moving there. I feel like there was a lot of politics to do with it as well, why Maritimo wanted me. I didnβt feel like they were being fully honest.
βIt definitely made me stronger. It definitely made me work harder and keep my head down. That didnβt change for sure. But I definitely made the right decision to leave.
βI had another two years left on my contract there. They changed presidents at the time, I went in there and they understood my situation. It wouldnβt have done me or the club any good for me to be there longer.β
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