Investing

‘I’m not just another fan’: The Kerryman who tells Premier League stars how to manage their money

Patrick Foley, founder of Sonar Financial Services, has helped some of football’s most highly paid players, including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Héctor Bellerín. He’s willing to have the hard conversations when necessary

Patrick Foley of Sonar Financial Services, pictured at West Ham United’s London Stadium: ‘If I need to have a hard conversation with a player, I absolutely will, because it’s important that they don’t have another yes-man around them.’ Picture: Daniel Lynch

“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars,“ George Best once infamously told an interviewer. ”The rest I just squandered.”

It was a good joke, but it has also become a frequently invoked reference-point for the thriftlessness of professional athletes, and the risks inherent in a career spent in sport. Today, professional footballers earn eye-watering sums of money, but they also live lifestyles that can easily match, and at times outstrip, ...