Former striker of Manchester United Louis Saha has seen his assets grow exponentially in retirement, and it is now thought that he owns a dazzling fortune of approximately £ 4.3 billion
Louis Saha has extracted an excellent Premier League career that spanned it for more than ten years. But the majority of the Frenchman's fortune pound of the Frenchman has been collected with his boots hung.
Saha first arrived on loan in England with Newcastle United in 1999 and made his stay permanently when he signed Metz for Fulham from Metz a year later. He would leave Craven Cottage for Old Trafford in 2004, before he exchanged Manchester United for Everton in 2008.
Time with Tottenham and Sunderland followed for a Swansong season in Lazio, but it was because of his sports company, Axisstars, that he has collected a lot of wealth. The company, which tends to have seen 'professional athletes and entertainers, their colleagues and trusted partners', has risen Saha's assets to £ 4.3 billion.
Mirror Football takes a look at Saha's career, from a meaningful transfer that Ultimatum has published during his time in West London to his billionaire-business company.
After playing only 11 times for Newcastle during the Premier League season 1998/99, Saha was arrested in 2000 by the second side of Fulham for a moderate £ 2.1 million, but soon made that price tag cheap.
The Cottagers reached promotion to the top flight that season, partly thanks to the 27 league goals of Saha, which saw him called in the PFA team of the year. In the Premier League he continued to find the back of the net and scored eight, five and 13 competition goals in three campaigns for the London side.
However, things soon became harmful when the Frenchman was looking for a switch to the Red Devils, who had already seen two bids for him, rejected in January 2004. To try to force a movement, the then 25-year-old offered a threatening ultimatum and called Fulham “not fair”.
“The club says that they would rather sell me in six months, but I am tired of it now,” said Saha in 2004. “Whether I am leaving Fulham until the end of my contract, which ends in 2006. If Fulham loves me so much, they will have to deal with Zero Euros to the end.”
This rather unsavory scene was quickly resolved when Saha made a relocation of £ 12.8 million less than two weeks later to hand over the number 9 shirt that Andy Cole had lasted for the last time.
“I am absolutely happy, it's a dream come true,” said Saha after signing. “I want to thank my family and all the people who helped me here. I am just glad that everything went smoothly. Leaving a great atmosphere such as Fulham has been difficult, but I am happy that I can join one of the best clubs in the world.”
Still, with the arrival of Wayne Rooney and the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Forlan, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistorrooy in the forward ranks of United, were scarce for Saha in Manchester.
Saha scored 42 goals in 124 performances for the club from 2004 to 2008, when Everton signed him with a 'pay-as-you play' deal. He was plagued by injuries in Goodison Park, but sometimes still found rich veins, and even scored in seven consecutive games during the 2009/2010 season.
Tottenham drew him for free in January 2012 and he scored three goals before he was released at the end of the term. Saha then only lasted half a season with Sunderland before he stopped it after a short spell in Italy with Lazio.
However, he did not leave the spotlight. Saha has impressively reached a billionaire status as CEO of the company that he has co-founder with Kate Hamer, an ex-marketeer, which is assumed to be linked to more than 500 former athletes.
The AxisStars website shows a photo of Saha next to Hamer, with a description that reads: “Since he hangs his boots, Louis has moved to the world of business where he used his experience to develop statements to support athletes and other people in the public interest, in their career.”