Luka Modric with Swansea City logo
Светлана Бекетова / Wikipedia.org

Luka Modrić Joins the Ranks of Footballers Investing in Unlikely Clubs

Players / May 6, 2025

From the Bernabeu to the Mumbles… it’s been quite some journey for Luka Modrić. The Real Madrid midfielder, who is still playing at the highest level at the age of 39, has confirmed that he expects to stay in football after his career has come to an end. And that will come in the business side of the beautiful game with Modrić investing in, and becoming a co-owner of, his first club in 2025. Was it Real Madrid? One of his former clubs? A team in his native Croatia? No, no and thrice no. Instead, Modrić has acquired a minority stake in Swansea City. But why Swansea? According to Modrić, the Swans have a ‘strong identity, an incredible fanbase, and the ambition to compete at the highest level.’

Whether the 39-year-old has a strong dose of business acumen only time will tell, but he certainly knows the game inside and out, and has knowledge of English football from his time spent with Tottenham. While some former footballers invest in clubs of a certain stature or geographical significance – why wouldn’t David Beckham want to spend his weekends in Miami? – others have taken on an altogether different challenge, starting lower down the pecking order in a bid to create a new football goliath. Modrić joins a stack of other big-name players in investing in unlikely football clubs…

Kylian Mbappé (Caen)

You would think that Kylian Mbappé, Modric’s teammate at Real Madrid, has enough on his plate as a player. But the former World Cup Golden Boot winner has decided to invest some of his fortune, partly amassed via his mammoth £500,000 weekly wage with the Galacticos, in Ligue 2 club Caen back in 2024. He owns Interconnected Ventures, who has in turn acquired an 80% majority stake in the French club.

Stade Malherbe Caen, to give their full name, haven’t played in Ligue 1 since 2019, and their first season under Mbappé’s ownership has been a disaster – they have been relegated to the French National, the third tier, for the first time since 1984. Mbappé and his Interconnected Ventures colleagues had better get their thinking caps on and their wallets out.

Didier Drogba (Phoenix Rising)

A stack of former footballers have invested in Major League Soccer clubs; the sheer scale of America, and their love of sport, suggesting that the competition should continue to grow and grow in the years to come. And former Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is hoping to own an MLS franchise of his own… albeit, he’s starting off with lower ambitions.

The Ivorian owns a stake in Phoenix Rising, where he ended his playing days with 13 goals in 21 games. They play in the United Soccer League (USL), which is effectively the equivalent of the EFL in the UK, although they cannot gain admittance to the MLS via promotion – they need to be accepted as an ‘expansion’ franchise first. There are hopes that Phoenix Rising will bring Major League Soccer to Arizona, although they will likely need to build a new stadium first – meaning that Drogba and co will need to open up their book of contacts and schmooze with cash-rich suitors.

Cesc Fàbregas (Como)

From player to part owner to head coach? Como, the Italian home to the rich and the famous, plays host to a number of actors and actresses with properties there. And its football club is enjoying a Hollywood story of its own: from near bankruptcy to Serie A in just a matter of seasons.

A principal actor in the story has been Cesc Fàbregas, who joined Como as a player back in 2022, had first invested in the club as a minority owner three years prior as part of the Djarum Group, which also includes Thierry Henry. The Spaniard was appointed as youth team coach when his playing career came to an end, before promptly being promoted to first team head coach in 2023 – first on an interim basis, before getting the nod full-time a year later.

The financial investment of Fàbregas and co stabilised Como and enabled them to kick on, with promotion to Serie A secured at the end of the 2024/24 season. And the good times have continued to roll, with Como comfortably avoiding relegation in their first season in the top flight.

There have been owner-managers over the years, but they are typically megalomaniacs that believe they can do a better job than a professional – generally, that doesn’t end well. But Fàbregas brings plenty of experience and nous, so the Como experiment will surely continue to thrive with the Spaniard at the helm.

Ronaldo (Real Valladolid)

Not the Portuguese CR7 but the legendary Brazilian striker, Ronaldo acquired a 51% controlling stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid for around £22 million back in 2018. Things have been tumultuous, with Valladolid yo-yoing between La Liga and La Liga 2 with the Brazilian at the helm – their latest relegation was confirmed in April 2025.

According to club insiders, Ronaldo has become an increasingly distant figure during the 2024/25 season, and has reportedly even begun to welcome expressions of interest in buying him out. Indeed, as they took on Getafe in a La Liga game in November 2024, Ronaldo broadcast live on Twitch… revealing himself to be playing tennis 100 miles away in Madrid. Not necessarily the image a club president should be giving amidst a relegation struggle.

Hector Bellerin (Forest Green Rovers)

What on earth is a former Barcelona and Arsenal defender doing investing in tiny Cotswolds outfit Forest Green Rovers? The answer is as surprising as it is welcome: Hector Bellerin is committed to tackling environmental issues, and so he decided to acquire a stake – the second largest on the board, as well – in Forest Green, whose owner Dale Vince turned them into the world’s first completely carbon neutral football club.

Bellerin once committed to planting 300 trees in the Amazon rainforest every time Arsenal won, such is his belief in green causes, and his partnership with Forest Green is designed to improve awareness of environmental issues within a sport not typically known for its conscience.