He died last August
Legendary trainer (†76) leaves behind millions in debt
January 16, 2025 – 6:39 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Sven-Göran Eriksson was a successful trainer in the business for almost 40 years. Five months after his death, however, it emerged that he had left behind a huge mountain of debt.
After a serious battle with cancer, legendary trainer Sven-Göran Eriksson died last August at the age of 76. The Swede coached on almost every continent for almost four decades, including being coach of the English national team for five years and leading top clubs such as Manchester City, Benfica Lisbon, AS and Lazio Rome.
Despite his successful coaching career, shocking details about the Swedish coach’s estate are now becoming known, around five months after his death. As the Swedish newspaper “Expressen” reports, Eriksson leaves his relatives a mountain of debt of around 4.5 million euros. Although his assets amount to around 5.7 million euros, his debts of around 10.2 million euros far exceed the values he left behind.
According to the Swedish news agency “Göteborgs-Posten”, tax debts make up the largest part of the mountain of debt in Great Britain – around 8.6 million euros. These are said to have been created during his stints as a coach in England (national team, Manchester City and Leicester City).
Eriksson’s lawyer and long-time friend Anders Runebjer told the Sun: “Sven had already paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to the tax authorities, but they still have demands. We don’t know how much it will ultimately be.”
However, Eriksson himself expected a debt surplus. “This is no surprise to those involved. Svennis even said: ‘I won’t leave any money.’ And that was the case,” said the lawyer.
Eriksson himself spoke openly about his financial problems during his lifetime. In 2017 he admitted to “Expressen” that he had no overview of his assets: “I have no idea how much money I have and where it is.”
A significant part of his financial difficulties are due to bad investments and fraud. In 2013, Eriksson sued his former financial advisor Samir Khan after he allegedly defrauded him of around 11.8 million euros. Failed investments in film and environmental projects also placed a heavy burden on his finances.
In order to at least partially pay off the debt, Eriksson’s family has put his property “Gut Björkefors” on Lake Fryken up for sale. The property where Eriksson spent the last years of his life is expected to fetch around 1.3 million euros.