Reece Wabara is now earning £35m-per-year after quitting football | OneFootball

Highlights

Reece Wabara is a name that will be unfamiliar to many Premier League fans, as the former Manchester City youth academy prospect left the world of football behind at the age of 26 in 2017. He has found success as a businessman since he decided to step away from the beautiful game over six years ago.

Having struggled to make a significant impact on the English game, Wabara played only one competitive game for Man City's senior team as he was brought on as a substitute to replace Pablo Zabaleta in a game against Bolton Wanderers.

Loan spells in the lower leagues - with Ipswich Town, Oldham Athletic, Blackpool, and Doncaster Rovers - were not enough to force his way into the plans of Man City. The club were on the rise to prominence in the wake of their change in ownership in 2008 and this decreased the opportunity for players coming through the youth ranks.

With big new signings being brought in for eye-watering sums of money, there was no place in the squad at the Etihad for the defender, and his contract was terminated in 2014. It was actually before his departure from the club that Wabara set up his new venture in the fashion world.

How Reece Wabara made his fortune

The former right-back set up a clothing line in 2013

Despite still being involved in football in 2013 - and contracted to Man City at the time - Wabara decided to look into new ventures to run alongside his playing career. This decision was a stroke of genius in hindsight.

Wabara took advice from a man he went to school with, Lewis Morgan, to make a move into the world of business. Morgan is a co-founder of the globally popular leisure brand, Gym Shark. The ex-defender decided to dip his toe into the world of fashion as he plummeted £15,000 into a clothing line called Maniere De Voir in 2013.

Speaking to The Times in 2021 about his decision to quit football to pursue other projects, Wabara gave credit to his former school buddy.

It was a choice he is unlikely to regret as, more than a decade later, Wabara's company now makes just under £35 million per year (£34.7 million). This is a staggering amount of money. While the financial side of football makes it one of the most lucrative professions in the world, the former England Under-20 international never looked destined to be making the eye-watering sums of money he has in his new industry.

Chelsea star Raheem Sterling and boxing hero Anthony Joshua have both donned some of the clothing produced by Wabara and co. This goes to show the legitimacy of the business he has put together, and it is rather commendable. The brand has now opened its first store in London on Oxford Street, meaning exciting times still lie ahead for everyone involved.

A man that could have been milling around in the lower leagues of English football desperately looking for a way back into the Premier League instead decided to take a leap of faith and give up on a dream that most young men hold. He has been proven more than right to make that jump.

Wabara's football career

From promising youngster to retired at 26

Manchester City may have brought him through the youth ranks, but Wabara originally began his football career at Walsall before moving to the blue side of Manchester in 2007. The first of four loan spells the youngster embarked on was in 2011 - when he joined Ipswich Town on loan. This gave clubs a chance to see the promising right-back in action for a senior team during six appearances.

Oldham Athletic were keen to take the player to League One and signed him on a loan deal that lasted until January 2013. Wabara's final game for the club came in a 3-2 FA Cup victory over Premier League giants Liverpool. Further temporary moves to Blackpool and Doncaster Rovers followed before City terminated his deal and allowed him to move on to pastures new.

Recalling this part of his life, Wabara was very honest as he explained, per The Sun: "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," he continued. A permanent transfer to Doncaster following his CIty exit would prove to be the most consistent and fruitful spell of his playing days, as Wabara represented the club 65 times in total, including the aforementioned loan stint.

Even after this brief resurgence in football, short-term deals at Barnsley, Wigan and Bolton were not enough to convince Wabara to continue his playing career in the beautiful game. In 2017, he officially retired and began focusing fully on his business venture.

Admitting it was not a straightforward choice, the 32-year-old added: "My football wasn’t progressing in the way I intended it to. The business was progressing at an alarming rate and I had to choose one or the other because focus is important."

Reece Wabara's net worth

The former Man City defender ranks higher than a current Man United forward on the rich list

Maniere De Voir had a turnover of £1 million in the first year of business, so the dramatic rise to just shy of £35 million per year was always going to have a positive impact on Wabara's earnings. Per The Sun once more, Wabara was named among the Sunday Times' Young Rich list in 2022. At the time, his personal wealth was estimated to be around £26 million, which was more than England international Marcus Rashford.

In 2023, The Times reported that Wabara's net worth was £88 million. This is a staggering change in fortunes from once being a journeyman defender in the second and third tiers of English football. There are no indications that the young entrepreneur is anywhere near finished growing this empire.