Plenty of Barcelona academy graduates have been given the ‘next Lionel Messi’ tag, but Giovani dos Santos had a fair shout in 2006.
The Mexican, who arrived in Catalunya aged 12, made his debut at just 17, and marked it with a goal against Aarhus in the Champions League, raising expectations through the roof after an impressive youth career.
Sadly for Dos Santos, that was about as good as it got. He spent just one season as a first team player before departing for Tottenham in a £5million deal in 2008.
Even in north London he struggled to make an impact, being sent out on loan at Ipswich, Galatasaray and Racing Santander before heading back to Spain permanently.
He enjoyed his best season at Villarreal in 2013/14, and later headed back to America with LA Galaxy before retiring in 2021.
Despite becoming a legend with his national team and winning the Gold Cup on three occasions, Dos Santos’ football career didn’t live up to expectations, but he’s instead been exceeding them in business.
Claro Sports have reported that the 35-year-old is now earning an estimated £300,000 to £400,000 per-year in the petrochemical industry, the equivalent of 10 million Mexican pesos.
The former winger is now a partner in the company Procura Mexico, which is linked to the petrochemical company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).
If that wasn’t lucrative enough as a post-playing career, it’s also claimed that he’s involved in the luxury car business, a booming market in Mexico that pockets him even more cash.
Dos Santos’ last gig in football was with his only Mexican side, Club America in 2021, and it’s claimed he never officially retired.
Including loans, Dos Santos actually spent the biggest chunk of his career contracted to Tottenham, where he left a mark on club great Ledley King.
In June the former England defender was asked by talkSPORT if he ever told the Spurs board to buy a certain player and he said: “I’ve seen players who I thought were unbelievable.
“I remember watching Giovanni Dos Santos when he was playing for Mexico in an Under-16s tournament. He looked just like Ronaldinho, but a younger version.
“I didn’t say go and buy him but I just thought to myself that he was going to be a star.
“He ended up joining, but it didn’t quite work out for him. He was a big talent.”
He added: “We had [Gareth] Bale, Dos Santos, Kevin Prince Boateng, Adel Taarabt. These were all talented young players.”