Former Chelsea, West Ham United and England striker Carlton Cole appears to be the latest to add his name to the growing list of bankrupt footballers.
The 34-year-old was once on £30,000-a-week but has now been declared bankrupt in a remarkable fall from grace.
Cole, who scored 51 goals in 289 Premier League games, was given the verdict at London's High Court.
In addition, Cole hopes his desperate situation can be a warning to young footballers exposed to the riches of the modern game.
Cole enjoyed a fine career after coming through the ranks at Chelsea, including seven caps for England.
The 6ft 3in forward will be remembered most for his nine-year spell at West Ham, where he scored 68 goals in 293 matches for the Hammers and is still remembered with fondness by the club's fans.
After leaving West Ham in 2015, Cole went on to have brief spells with Celtic in Scotland and then Sacramento Republic in the United States.
Cole has been without a club since 2017, following the end of another brief spell with Indonesian side Persib Bandung.
Sadly, Cole is not the first case of former footballer's suffering from a major fall from financial grace.
Another former England international David James declared himself bankrupt in 2014 despite earning an estimated £20 million from his footballing career.
John Arne Riise was declared bankrupt at age 26 with debts of around £100,000, whilst still playing for Liverpool.
Former Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel went broke in 2011 with his reported £5 million debt coming from a failed football academy in the United States.
The 34-year-old was once on £30,000-a-week but has now been declared bankrupt in a remarkable fall from grace.
Cole, who scored 51 goals in 289 Premier League games, was given the verdict at London's High Court.
In a statement issued by Cole's spokesman to The Sun, the former England international is currently mentoring young people and footballers about the pitfalls of life and money.
He will be going into more detail in the coming weeks about the advice that contributed to this situation and the people he had around him who had a negative effect on his career and finances.
In addition, Cole hopes his desperate situation can be a warning to young footballers exposed to the riches of the modern game.
I hope my story will help young footballers to take responsibility for who they listen to and take advice from.
Unfortunately, I didn't realise what was going on until my career was in the latter years and too late for me to turn things around.
Cole enjoyed a fine career after coming through the ranks at Chelsea, including seven caps for England.
The 6ft 3in forward will be remembered most for his nine-year spell at West Ham, where he scored 68 goals in 293 matches for the Hammers and is still remembered with fondness by the club's fans.
After leaving West Ham in 2015, Cole went on to have brief spells with Celtic in Scotland and then Sacramento Republic in the United States.
Cole has been without a club since 2017, following the end of another brief spell with Indonesian side Persib Bandung.
Sadly, Cole is not the first case of former footballer's suffering from a major fall from financial grace.
Another former England international David James declared himself bankrupt in 2014 despite earning an estimated £20 million from his footballing career.
John Arne Riise was declared bankrupt at age 26 with debts of around £100,000, whilst still playing for Liverpool.
Former Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel went broke in 2011 with his reported £5 million debt coming from a failed football academy in the United States.
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