Former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel revealed to Forbes recently how he hopes his expanding property empire will enable him to continue living like a multi-millionaire footballer for the rest of his life.
The Dutchman is back where it all started for him at Ajax, pkv games on loan from Galatasaray, but at 33 knows that his days a professional footballer are numbered.
Babel has been preparing for the day of his retirement by investing in ‘multi-family homes’ – a type of living he is confident will boom in a post-coronavirus world – and has a portfolio stretching from Amsterdam to Miami.
Former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel returned to Ajax on loan this season from Galatasaray
‘Right now hotels are collapsing, big malls are collapsing, a lot of industries have problems,’ Babel explained to Forbes.
‘That’s why I think investing in multi-family apartments is pretty solid.’
He added: ‘I want to have that situation where I don’t need to work for money anymore. I have money work for me.’
But while Babel’s ingenuity must be applauded, he will be far from the first former Premier League player to go on and poker online flourish in a secondary.
Here, Sportsmail runs through some of the most unusual post-match careers of ex-Premier League stars, from poker stars to pastors.
THOMAS GRAVESEN
A straightfoward, tough-tackling midfielder for Everton, the Dane’s life post-football has been anything but simple.
After retiring in 2008 aged 32, Gravesen disappeared from public view for several years. When he was finally tracked down in 2013, it emerged that Gravesen had won around £80million from playing high-stakes poker in Las Vegas, where he was living in a gated community with Nicolas Cage and tennis power-couple Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi as his neighbours.
Thomas Gravesen with porn star ex-girlfriend Kira Eggers – and playing for Everton
RAMON VEGA
An erratic central defender for Tottenham in the 1990s, the Swiss international also had a spell at Watford in the second tier before his career fizzled out in the early 2000s.
But since retiring, Vega has really flourished, becoming a multi-millionaire through asset management and private equity. He made and unsuccessful bid to buy Portsmouth in 2009 and also considered running for FIFA president in 2015.
Ramon Vega at the Football For Peace ball in 2017 and in the 1999 League Cup final
GAVIN PEACOCK
Peacock was a consistent attacking midfielder for QPR, Newcastle and most notably Chelsea – where his career peaked with a three-year stint in the Premier League from 1993 to 1996.
A devout Christian since a teen, the Londoner turned his back on a burgeoning punditry career to move permanently to the Canadian Rockies – where he and his family had had a holiday home since the 1980s – in 2008 so he could undertake a three-year Masters in divinity.
He is now a pastor in Calgary.
Gavin Peacock – playing for Chelsea in 1994 (left) – is now a pastor in Calgary, Alberta
MATHIEU FLAMINI
The former Arsenal midfielder, who made 246 appearances for the club over two spells, is doing his best to change the world for the better as an environmental entrepreneur.
He is the co-founder of GF Biochemicals, the first company in the world able to mass produce levulinic acid – a sustainable form of energy. The company is worth billions and Flamini’s investment has seen him pick up numerous awards.
Mathieu Flamini scoring at White Hart Lane in 2015 – and at the World Economic Forum
ARJAN DE ZEEUW
The Dutchman was adept at snuffing out danger as a solid Premier League defender in the 2000s and 1990s – and he has continued that habit in his post-football life.
The former Wigan, Portsmouth and Barnsley man is now a forensic detective in Amsterdam.
Former Portsmouth and Wigan captain Arjan de Zeeuw is now a detective in Amsterdam
DION DUBLIN
While it is not unusual for footballers to become television pundits after retirement, as Dublin has done, the former Aston Villa, Coventry and Manchester United striker has gone a step further by emerging as a presenter for BBC property show Homes Under The Hammer.
Dion Dublin has used his punditry experience to move into property-show presenting
JODY CRADDOCK
A tough defender for Sunderland Wolves in the Premier League in the 2000s, Craddock showed his talents did not end outside the football pitch as he embarked on a successful career as an artist after retiring in 2013.
Jody Craddock has gone from no-nonsense defender to artist since retiring in 2013
PHIL MULRYNE
Like Peacock, Mulryne headed into the church after football, beginning to train as a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 aged 31.
A midfielder who graduated from Manchester United’s academy before spending a year in the Premier League with Norwich in 2004-05, Mulryne is now a Dominican friar and presided over his first mass in 2017.
Norwich midfielder Phil Mulryne has gone to become a Roman Catholic priest