A Premier League footballer blew £15million fortune on gambling after becoming addicted to card games and ‘casinos’.

The international has played at the top for almost his entire career, earning millions through lucrative contracts, endorsements and sponsorship.

But he became addicted to gambling, especially card and casino games, early in his career, and is now struggling financially due to his massive losses.


The British midfielder is now sweating on a new contract to maintain his lifestyle. But he has been forced to move from his own home because he could no longer afford the mortgage payments.

The midfielder earns around £40,000 a week but is struggling with debt

He and his young family were forced to ‘downsize’ on their property due to his huge losses. His ‘problem’ gambling became apparent as he struggled to pay his monthly payments despite a salary of around £40,000-a-week, the equivalent of almost £2m a year.

He is one of the players from the same club who have online accounts at the same bookies, according to our source. The star is invited for trips to the races, and has visited Las Vegas with friends. The bookies where he has the account also lay on tickets for F1, Premier League executive boxes and parties.

The whistle blower said: “He has a VIP rating.

As a top player you get all the bookies' best days out and offers

“You can see from his account that he is being invited to all the big race days, parties and football matches.

“He is one of a number of players at the same Premier League club who opened accounts, all of them big names, well known to fans.

“As a top player, he gets all the benefits the bookies can offer.”

But he is struggling to make ends meet due to his addiction, blowing his entire fortune, estimated at around £15m.

“He has moved from his previous home because he could not keep up the mortgage payments,” said a source close to the star.

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He is now living in a rented home

“It is desperate when you think how much he has earned throughout his career. They have the posh cars but they are all leased because of his financial situation.

“Their home is fine but not as good as the one they had before - and he has to rent. He has been at the top for a while, and is trying to sort out a new contract. But he is sweating on it because he needs to keep on earning to maintain his life style.

“It is a terrible place to be.”

How we covered the gambling scandal in the paper


Our whistleblower alleged bosses allowed them to carry on betting even after they had lost fortunes and were showing signs of addiction.

Lifting the lid on the gambling craze sweeping the game, the insider told how one England star bet £500 on his own transfer to a top flight club in a bid to win £5,000.

And a Premier League defender squandered £500,000 on mobile phone casino games in a year, leaving him with just pennies in an account that once held £1.2million.

Players are not supposed to bet on football, though the England defender ‘slipped through the net’. But they are losing staggering sums of money on other forms of gambling - even when they are showing signs of ‘addiction’.

The Association of British Bookmakers said a host of new responsible measures had been introduced in a bid to stop gambling getting out of hand.

They include giving players the ability to set a limit on money or time they spend gaming. There is a “self-exclusion” scheme and £50 stake limits. A worldwide ban on betting on football came into force in 2014 for all those involved in the game.

That means stars cannot gamble on any match or competition. It is also illegal to gamble on any football-related matter including, the transfer of players, hiring of managers or team selection.

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* National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133.