18. Robbie Fowler (Unattached) – £32.5m
Surprising as it may be to some, Liverpool goalscoring legend Robbie Fowler is eligible for our list as he hasn’t officially retired, despite leaving his role as player/coach at Thai club Muangthong United last year.
Fowler, now 37, is the fourth highest scorer in Premier League history after netting 162 league goals for Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester City. He was nicknamed ‘God’ by the Kop and scored 183 goals in total for the Anfield club.
He signed a big-money move to Leeds for a £12 million fee in 2001, before further transfers to City, an emotional return to Liverpool and moves to Australian A League teams Perth Glory and North Queensland Fury.
The Toxteth-born forward is somewhat of a trailblazer for footballers off the pitch too after building up an impressive property and business portfolio over the years. His property portfolio includes more than 80 properties in Liverpool, Oldham, Scotland and Wales, many of which he rents out as buy-to-lets.
Fowler has launched a “property academy” to teach the secrets of buy-to-let investing. The Robbie Fowler Property Academy will share secrets to succeeding through free workshops on property investing.
The striker has also invested in several racehorses, while Robbie Fowler Sports Promotions had a ‘net worth’ of £750,000 as of March 2012. He released an autobiography in 2005 and tops up his income with work as a TV pundit.