Ex-Middlesbrough flop Martin Braithwaite is the richest player at Barcelona, even if his career stats doesn’t make for good reading.
His bank statements and finances more than make up for his disappointment on the pitch it would seem, making just four appearances for Barca last season, yet has gone on to become the wealthiest player at the club.
The Denmark international was a surprise signing for the Blaugrana in February 2020 after they activated his €18 million release clause to bring him in from Leganes as an emergency signing.
He had previously found life in the Championship with Middlesbrough a tough one, scoring just nine goals in 40 games.
On this day in 2017… 🗓
Martin Braithwaite signed for Middlesbrough.
He cost £9 million and scored 8 league goals in two seasons.
But was playing for Barcelona three years later 🤔#Boro #UTB pic.twitter.com/8tJZwDwEyt
— The Second Tier (@secondtierpod) July 13, 2022
Braithwaite reportedly earns €4 million-per-year at the Nou Camp but that is far from the striker’s main income.
When outside investments and earnings were factored into the equation, only Lionel Messi earned more than him at Barcelona, according to a 2020 report by Forbes magazine.
Messi departed last summer, which moved Braithwaite to the top of wealth rankings within the club with a bulk of his immense wealth coming from an $850,000 (£714,298) investment into the real estate business NYCE, which he is a partner off alongside his uncle, Phillip Michael.
The company’s website boasts approximately £252million in assets under management, including a real estate portfolio believed to be worth around £210m.
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However, the portfolio, which includes properties within New York, Philadelphia, Jersey City and San Antonio, isn’t the only thing he’s tried his hand at. Braithwaite also co-owns clothing business ‘Trente’ alongside French entrepreneur, journalist and TV personality Anne-Leure Louis.
And when his business endeavours work up a multi-millionaire sized appetite, the 31-year-old can feast in his own restaurant ‘Gave’, which is located within Barcelona.
“We want to teach people about financial freedom and the power that they possess,” he said on a Yahoo Finance chanel panel, as per The Irish Times.
“We have so many things that we want to do and always with the mindset to give back.”
Braithwaite is of Guyanese descent through his father, though believes he has an American way of thinking that helped him on his way to being successful.
Speaking to The Philadelphia Inquirer, he explained: “I always had this American side, and I think maybe that’s why my mindset is maybe more American: dreaming big, doing amazing things, writing goals down.
“In Denmark, we have an amazing system protecting the people. Everyone is good. No one needs anything. In America, it’s not really the same thing.”
Braithwaite, who has so far made 58 appearance and scored 10 goals for Barca, is said to be available for around €8 million.
Premier League side Brentford have been linked, along with the likes of sides from the MLS and Middle East – however the Bees are said to be keen to staying put.
BRAITHWAITE’S CAREER SO FAR
Youth career
SGI
2003–2007 – Esbjerg fB
2007 – Midtjylland
2007–2009 – Esbjerg fB
Senior career
2009–2013 – Esbjerg fB – 89 games (17 goals)
2013–2017 – Toulouse – 136 games (35 goals)
2017–2019 – Middlesbrough – 36 games (8 goals)
2018 → Bordeaux (loan) – 14 games (4 goals)
2019 → Leganés (loan) – 19 games (4 goals)
2019–2020 – Leganés – 24 games (6 goals)
2020– Barcelona – 44 games (5 goals)
National team
2008 – Denmark U17 – 3 games (0 goals)
2009–2010 – Denmark U19 – 11 games (2 goals)
2012–2013 – Denmark U21 – 2 games (0 goals)
2013– Denmark – 60 games (10 goals)
Martin Braithwaite says he has no hard feelings about his time at Middlesbrough – however he does claim that an unfair picture has been painted of him.
A few years back the Danish striker spoke to the press in Spain, telling the Athletic about his Barcelona dream, but in an interview with the Guardian talked more about his time on Teesside.
Braithwaite was signed by then-Boro boss Garry Monk but when Tony Pulis was appointed six months after the striker joined the club, he said he realised he “didn’t fit”.
The player went on loan to Bordeaux in the second half of his first season at the club and after returning to Middlesbrough made it clear he wanted to head to Spain after interest from La Liga emerged.
Boro stood firm and after Braithwaite didn’t get the move he wanted, his early season form collapsed. He got his move in the January of the 2018/19 season when he joined Leganes on loan, and then said he didn’t expect to return to Boro and criticised Pulis’s “strange” tactics.
Pulis slammed Braithwaite as “ungrateful” and saying he had gone “shouting and screaming” in Neil Bausor’s office to try and force a move.
Ex-Middlesbrough flop Martin Braithwaite is the richest player at Barcelona
Braithwaite did go back to Boro when Jonathan Woodgate was in charge, but left on a permanent deal to rejoin Leganes before his shock Barcelona move.
Despite his stay with Boro, he says he is “grateful” for the experience and “loved” Boro’s “passionate” fans. But he claims some comments made about him are not true, adding: “It’s just a shame some try to create a picture of me.”
Talking about his time at Boro, he told the Guardian: “I’m grateful.
“I learnt a lot. I don’t have a problem (not playing) because a manager has hard decisions. I didn’t fit. That’s life. It’s normal, not personal. It adds different tools for me for the future. No hard feelings. Only, things were said that are far from the truth – some really, really bad comments after I left.
“We’re human and football is full of emotion. Middlesbrough supporters are passionate and I loved that. I believe in freedom of speech; people are allowed to show their disappointment. I shared that disappointment. People next to me know my values. It’s just a shame some try to create a picture of me. But it’s part of who I’ve become, what I learnt, what brought me here. It’s been a hell of a journey.”
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