Jermaine Pennant has revealed he has lost more than £10million in revenue and has even forgotten he owned a house due to ADHD.
The former footballer, 39, who described himself as “financially illiterate”, said he squandered his fortune on shady investments and bad actors who targeted him.
Speaking to The Sun, Jermaine also opened up about losing three houses and going bankrupt due to his money problems.
Open: Jermaine Pennant has revealed he has lost more than £10million in revenue and has even forgotten he owned a house due to ADHD
He said: “Honestly, I could have become a billionaire and still screwed up. I made so many mistakes but I didn’t know how to deal with things and didn’t want to think about the consequences of my actions.’
Jermaine announced that he was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder last year along with post-traumatic stress disorder related to childhood trauma.
The athlete’s ADHD meant he forgot he owned a home in Cheshire after leaving Liverpool for Spanish club Real Zaragoza.
However, he was still paying the interest-free mortgage on the £1.2million property, which he reportedly bought on the advice of a fixer who he said had cheated him.
Struggles: The former footballer, 39, who described himself as ‘financially illiterate’, said he squandered his fortune on shady investments and bad actors who targeted him (pictured with girlfriend Jess Impiazzi in November 2022)
ADHD is a behavioral disorder defined by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Symptoms typically appear at an early age and become more apparent as a child grows.
The majority of cases are diagnosed in children under the age of 12, but some people are not diagnosed until adulthood.
According to the NHS, the causes of ADHD are not known, but the condition has been shown to run in families.
Jermaine also detailed his lavish spending, saying he would think nothing of spending the money on evenings out and once paid a £25,000 cash bill for his friends during a trip to Las Vegas.
Jermaine said, “Honestly, I could have become a billionaire and still screwed up”
The footballer, who lives in Surrey with his girlfriend Jess Impiazzi, was declared bankrupt earlier this year with debts of more than £1million.
Jermaine was also hit with a tax bill of more than £1million in 2018, which he has disputed and still doesn’t know what it is for.
He said: “That is what led to bankruptcy more than anything else. I had no idea what I was earning and what was being deducted from my account.’
Jermaine said he regrets his past behavior with money and advises younger players not to make the same mistakes.
Nottingham-born Jermaine burst onto the scene as a teenager and became a £2million signing aged just 15, making his Arsenal debut aged 16.
He added: “I made so many mistakes but I didn’t know how to deal with things and I wouldn’t think about the consequences of my actions.”
He scored a hat-trick on his Premier League debut aged 20. He later admitted that he partied until 6am on the day of the game and won the game for his team hungover.
Despite his exceptional start, he only made five full starts for Arsenal in seven years and was loaned out to various clubs where his personal problems lingered.
In 2005, he was sentenced to three months in prison for drunk driving while he was disqualified after crashing his friend’s Mercedes into a lamppost.
After 30 days in prison he was released and his club Birmingham City stood by him. He was the first player to play in the Premier League with an electronic tag on his ankle.
His football career continued with a big money move to Liverpool, which brought him even more cash and even a Champions League winner’s medal before falling from grace.
Condition: Jermaine announced that he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder along with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder linked to childhood trauma last year
During a high-paying stint with Real Zaragoza in Spain, he forgot he had a Porsche and left it with a key on the seat outside a train station.
After the penny dropped, he later picked it up at five months of park tickets.
After retiring from football, he made money from the last series of Celebrity Big Brother and media commitments including an occasion where he was accused of being drunk on Sky Sports News.
Jermaine’s media company Jermaine Pennant Ltd, formed after his TV appearances on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, was wound up in 2020.
Ownership: The athlete’s ADHD meant he forgot he owned a house in Cheshire after leaving Liverpool for Spanish club Real Zaragoza
In his 2018 autobiography, Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game, Jermaine made several confessions, including that his dog killed his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Metcalfe’s cat.
He also told how he and former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole had threesomes with girls.
Jermaine insisted he now regrets writing the book, saying it’s another instance where he took bad advice and didn’t think about the consequences due to his ADHD.
The star said his biggest regret was being jailed for three months for drunk driving in 2005 after crashing into a lamppost while exceeding more than twice the legal limit and with the post under his car drove away.
WHAT IS ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioral disorder defined by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
It affects about five percent of children in the US. About 3.6 percent of boys and 0.85 percent of girls suffer from it in the UK.
Symptoms typically appear at an early age and become more apparent as a child grows. This can also include:
- Constant fidgeting
- Bad concentration
- Excessive movement or talking
- Act without thinking
- Little or no sense of danger
- careless mistake
- forgetfulness
- Difficulty organizing tasks
- Inability to listen or carry out instructions
Most cases are diagnosed between the ages of six and 12. Adults can also suffer from it, but there is less research on this.
The exact cause of ADHD is unclear, but it is thought to be due to genetic mutations that affect a person’s brain function and structure.
Premature babies and those with epilepsy or brain damage are at greater risk.
ADHD is also linked to anxiety, depression, insomnia, Tourette’s disease and epilepsy.
There is no cure.
A combination of medication and therapy is usually recommended to relieve symptoms and make everyday life easier.
Source: NHS selection