Man City academy graduate quit football aged just 26 and now makes £35 million a year

Professional football can bring incredible financial rewards at the top level and can set people up for life - but one player has proved that tremendous wealth can come after hanging up their boots and putting their effort into a different industry.

Reece Wabara came through the youth team ranks at Manchester City and made just one appearance for the Etihad Stadium club.

A lot of his time at City was spent away out on loan at clubs in the English Football League (EFL), including spells at Ipswich Town, Oldham Athletic, Blackpool and Doncaster Rovers.

Wabara left City for Doncaster permanently in 2014, before heading to fellow Yorkshire side Barnsley the following year.

Wabara then had spells at Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, the latter for whom he played only once and left upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2017.

Wanderers proved to be the last club of Wabara's professional football career, as he retired subsequently and has turned his attention to his fashion label.

Back in 2013, Wabara set up Maniere De Voir, a clothing line as a side-project and put £15,000 into setting it up.

He did so on the advice of Gymshark co-founder Lewis Morgan who he went to school with, and has not looked back since as he has become a very successful businessman.

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Now a decade on from establishing Maniere De Voir, the company is turning over £34.7m per year, with Anthony Joshua, Raheem Sterling, and Little Mix's Perrie Edwards among fans of the brand.

Speaking to The Times in 2021, Wabara said: "I signed to Manchester City at a transitional period, there was two or three managers in the time I was there and two or three owners too.

"I knew my football days at City were coming to an end and my dad always taught me I needed a second option to ensure you’re relevant and financially stable.

"I founded MDV in late 2013 and launched a collection, the first clothing I produced was tracksuits, T-shirts, hoodies…I put them on the footballers that I knew and it took off.

"I kept asking, where can I maximise my potential to be great.

"I always had a way of dressing that was different and Lewis said to me, ‘You should do something in fashion'."

It just goes to show how important it is when having a time-sensitive career to have something else to go to afterwards - and Wabara, now aged 32, is proof that having success in other industries can be even more lucrative than professional football.