A former Chelsea player was left penniless after failing to maintain his £475,000 property on the outskirts of London. The defender began his career with Anderlecht before he was picked up by the Blues in 1997. During his time at Stamford Bridge, he made 132 appearances and won several trophies including the FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield.
He was also a Nigeria international and won an Olympic gold medal while representing his country in 1996. The player left Chelsea in 2005, having been deemed surplus to requirements by Jose Mourinho after losing his place to Wayne Bridge. He spent time at Newcastle United and LA Galaxy before announcing his retirement from football in 2010.
The player in question is Celestine Babayaro, who was declared bankrupt in 2013 while being chased by creditors. It came five years after he battled with malaria, which saw his hopes of earning a deal at Portsmouth fall flat.
Babayaro, who was reported to earn £25,000 per week at one stage, was listed alongside a dinner lady and glass cutter in a bankruptcy announcement printed in the London Gazette.
The newspaper stated that he had been living at a property in Shepperton, Middlesex. Neighbours said they feared Babayaro had fallen on hard times after noticing that the upkeep on his £425,000 house had been neglected.
The man from Nigeria reportedly purchased the house in 1997 so that family members could be near him during his time at Chelsea. It was situated next to a property his younger brother lived in before he died of tuberculosis in 2007.
A neighbour, who lived on the same street as Babayaro, said: “You can tell money’s difficult because the home used to be maintained really nicely, but now it’s a bit of a mess.
“You can see where the conservatory is starting to fall down and the garden is completely overgrown. They came and asked to borrow my lawnmower but I had to say no because the grass was too long and would have broken it.”
Babayaro has since recovered financially and now lives in Nigeria, where he has a number of business interests and endorsements. He previously worked as a brand ambassador for Kaduna United, his hometown club.
He continues to keep a close eye on Chelsea despite leaving Stamford Bridge two decades ago. Earlier this year, he criticised Enzo Maresca over the wording of his post-match interviews.
“What I would say, on Maresca, is that he needs to tone his speech down a little bit, especially in those post-match interviews,” said Babayaro.
“You know, in most of those interviews, he talks about how they’re taking each game as it comes. You know how it goes, you keep saying the same thing and you start to believe in it.
“As a former player, I would look at my coaches, I’d look at their body language and what they’re saying in the press, and I’m sure his players are asking questions.
“We should be destroying teams, playing teams off the park. He really needs to look at his speech and tone it down a little bit.”