Hiram Moreno
Sports are a business, and those who participate in them frequently have large numbers in their bank accounts. Some athletes have so much money that they have no idea what to do with it, In this way, it is not uncommon to see news about squandering, extremely expensive parties and, sometimes, large and good investments made by athletes with their capital.
However, we are not here to talk about “profitable purchases”. We’re talking about juicy gossip, about those purchases that make you wonder… What was going on inside their heads? Although let’s be honest, deep down we would all like to splurge on absurd things. Here are some of the most curious things Latin athletes have spent their money on.
Lionel Messi: His Neighbor’s House
Let’s see. Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players in the world, and therefore has one of the most lucrative contracts in the sport. This is nothing unusual. That he spends all his millions on a house is not strange either, in factit’s something celebrities like to do: buy huge houses that have all the luxuries.
The situation here is that Messi did not buy the house for himself, nor for a family member or a friend. The reality is that during his life in Barcelona, the Argentinean player had some really annoying neighbors who did not let him enjoy peace and quiet when he was at home. What is the solution? To talk to them peacefully, perhaps? Maybe to give them a taste of their own medicine? Well, Messi decided to go all the way and bought the house from his neighbors, so they wouldn’t live there anymore. Rich people’s solutions at the end of the day.
Arturo Vidal: A very…unusual car
There seems to be nothing unusual here either. Another of the sportsmen’s hobbies is to buy expensive cars, and some athletes even go further and add customizations to their cars that are curious to say the least. So, if we talk about Arturo Vidal buying a car, and knowing the extravagant tastes — just look at his hairstyle — and the way in which the soccer player acts, the first thing that comes to mind is a vehicle of the most bizarre nature.
Nothing could be further from the truth; in October 2021, the Chilean added a 1980 Fiat Panda to his collection of premium automobiles. While not luxurious, it is a rare vehicle that is mostly found in Italy, and finding one from 1980 in such good condition is rare. When asked why he bought it, Vidal showed his skeptical side and mentioned that whenever he saw the car in Italy, something good happened in his life.
Alfonso Soriano: A rather extravagant Hummer
Remember Hummers? Those monster trucks that were all the rage during the 2000s? Alfonso Soriano, a former Major League Baseball player who played for the Yankees, Nationals, Rangers, and Cubs, bought a Hummer during the brand’s upsurge, but he didn’t stop there, customizing the vehicle on many occasions to make it more… unique.
No less than $50,000 must have been spent on the vehicle, but the customization costs were higher than those of the truck itself, or so it was disclosed at least, with more than $100,000 spent to make the Hummer look like… Well, judge for yourselves.
Of course, if the vehicle is lost, everyone will know whose truck it is, not only because it has his name written on the hood, but because Soriano was also a national laughingstock when the cost of the customization became known.
Yoenis Cespedes: A champion breeding pig
We admit it: we don’t even know how to define what the Cuban baseball player bought. Yoenis Cespedes has long been a divisive figure in the Mets organization, both on and off the field. The Cuban always showed a taste for peculiar things, including a futuristic three-wheeled vehicle… or a sports tricycle, depending on who is watching it.
However, one of the baseball player’s most eye-catching purchases was… a pig. The animal cost him $7,000, and he acquired it at a fair in March 2016. The pig weighed approximately about 270 pounds and was top of its class during his event so it was… an acceptable purchase? Yes, sort of, until he had to be put down because the Mets team was going to Florida and the law didn’t allow them to keep a pig as a pet.
We hope he received at least a few good chops as a consolation prize.
