Biggest Football Players Who Own Football Clubs
Football players who own football clubs is no longer a rare post-retirement twist. From Kylian Mbappé and Thibaut Courtois to David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić and Lionel Messi, some of the game’s biggest names are already shaping football from the boardroom as well as the pitch. What makes these moves so fascinating is that each story reveals something different.
Kylian Mbappé – SM Caen
Through his investment fund Coalition Capital, Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé, bought 80 percent of Stade Malherbe de Caen on 31 July, 2024. He did so for a reported fee of just under €20 million, while also helping clear part of the club’s debt. For a side that has struggled to regain its place in Ligue 1, the deal signaled more than a financial reset. It suggested fresh ambition, sharper visibility and the hope of a different future.
What makes this so intriguing is that Mbappé has no major public link to Caen at first glance. Yet reports have suggested the club once came close to becoming part of his own early journey before he chose Monaco instead. That detail gave the takeover an unexpected sense of unfinished history.
But the story has not yet turned into a sporting success. Caen were relegated in April 2025 to the French third tier for the first time since 1984. As things stand in March 2026, the club is competing in the Championnat National. Here they currently sit around mid-table rather than pushing strongly for an immediate return.
Thibaut Courtois – Le Mans FC
While still playing on the biggest stages with Real Madrid, Thibaut Courtois is also starting to shape football from a different angle. The Belgian goalkeeper added himself to the list of football players who own football clubs early this year, as Courtois became a co-owner of Le Mans FC. This added an off-pitch chapter to a career already defined by silverware and consistency at the top.
What makes this move interesting is the setting. Le Mans is not a glamour project built around headlines alone. The French club is working towards sustainable growth, with ambitions to improve its training infrastructure, strengthen the squad and build a more durable identity. Courtois has entered that journey through NxtPlay Capital, alongside names including Novak Djokovic, Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen. For Le Mans, his arrival brings both credibility and attention. For Courtois, it positions him as part of a new generation of players. A generation stepping into club ownership while still living the game from the inside.
David Beckham – Inter Miami CF & Salford City FC
For David Beckham, football club ownership is not a side project. It is one of the clearest ways his life after football has taken shape. What makes his story stand out is that he has built in two very different worlds. First, the global, fast-growing stage of Inter Miami and second, the deeply personal, community-rooted project of Salford City.
His Inter Miami journey began in 2007. This is when his LA Galaxy contract included the right to buy an MLS expansion franchise for around €21.7 million. Beckham activated that option in 2014, and after years of delays, stadium negotiations and ownership talks, Inter Miami finally entered MLS in 2020. Currently valued at around €1.25 billion, the club has grown into one of the most visible football brands in North America, with major trophies, global attention and a commercial rise that shows Beckham’s impact has been far more than symbolic.
Salford City tells a very different story, but says just as much about Beckham’s vision. Together with Gary Neville and the wider Class of ‘92 group, he helped turn a lower-league local club into one of English football’s most talked-about long-term projects. Under that ownership, Salford climbed out of non-league football into the EFL, proving that Beckham’s influence works not only on a global scale, but also close to home.
Cristiano Ronaldo – UD Almería
Cristiano Ronaldo only entered club ownership recently. He bought a 25 percent stake in UD Almería in February 2026 through CR7 Sports Investments while still actively playing for Al-Nassr. The move placed him inside an existing Saudi-led ownership structure rather than making him sole owner, an important distinction. One thing that has not been made public is the exact fee: multiple reliable reports confirmed the size of the stake, but the financial terms were not disclosed. Almería had already been taken over by the Saudi-based SMC Group in 2025 and were pushing to return to La Liga after relegation from the top flight in 2024.
Ronaldo’s impact has been immediate. For now, it has mainly been about visibility and social media following. Public reporting over the past two weeks indicated that Almería’s Instagram following increased dramatically after the announcement with currently 3.3 million followers by 12 March 2026. This is an extraordinary number for a second-tier Spanish side, with Almería now being the fifth most followed club in Spain.
Luka Modric – Swansea City A.F.C.
Luka Modric’s move into club ownership came in April 2025, when Swansea City announced that the Real Madrid and Croatia legend had joined as an investor and co-owner. The club did not disclose the exact size of his stake and the fee paid. Swansea City were not in a carefree position financially when Modric stepped up to ownership, having had a reported pre-tax loss of £15.2 million. This made the arrival of a globally respected figure like Modric all the more significant.
Lionel Messi – Deportivo LSM
In May 2025, Lionel Messi joined Luis Suárez in launching Deportivo LSM in Uruguay, making him part of the list of football players that own football clubs. The club was not built entirely from scratch: it grew out of Deportivo LS, the project Suárez had founded in 2018 in Ciudad de la Costa, before Messi came in as a partner and the club was rebranded for its step into the professional game. This move therefore was less of a takeover but more an expansion of an existing community project into something bigger. The exact size of Messi’s stake and the amount he invested were not disclosed publicly.
The team’s first season under the rebranded identity under Messi and Suárez ended with a fourth division title and promotion, showcasing that the investment of the two Barcelona legends had impact on the club.
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