Pique, Lloris, Van Persie: 11 footballers who were rich before football

In 2019, the average salary for a Premier League footballer was £61,024.

That figure was determined by the Global Sports Salary Survey, who explored the rising sums available to the game’s elite stars.

Those at the very top of the game are set for life. Their grandkids’ grandkids will be too, most likely.

Footballers’ salaries are the topic of much debate but the percentage of players earning that sort of generational wealth is very small.

And when you consider the level of effort and dedication they have to put in to reach that level, it’s hard not to feel like they deserve some reward.

Yet there are some players who didn’t have to wait until they made it in football to be wealthy.

Let’s take a look at some players, including Gerard Pique, Hugo Lloris and Patrick Bamford, who were rich before football.

Robin van Persie’s parents are both artists, which explains where his creativity came from.

His father, Bob, is a successful sculptor and his mother, Jose Ras, is a jewellery designer and painter.

Some would say the former Arsenal and Manchester United was also an artist - on the pitch.

Football fans were amazed at the start of 2022 when Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique shared a screenshot of a bank transfer on social media, showing he received a payment of more than 2 million Euros in December 2021.

The Spaniard is also married to pop star Shakira, so the Pique’s aren’t short of a penny or two.

Yet he’s no stranger to financial prosperity. The Spaniard’s dad, Joan, is a lawyer and business and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a Barcelona hospital.

Tottenham Hotspur and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was born into wealth.

His mother Marie is a successful lawyer and his father Luc is an investment banker.

As a