Michael Ballack Net Worth

Short introduction

Michael Ballack is active as a professional footballer for more than 17 years. During this time he played for Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and FC Chelsea. For a long time he was the captain of the German national team and participated in two World Cups and three European Championships. After his career, he acted as a TV expert for various channels.

Early life

Michael Ballack was born near Görlitz in the former GDR. At the age of seven years he began playing soccer on the motorbike BSG “Fritz Heckert” Karl-Marx-Stadt. Local coach Steffen Hänisch quickly watched the technical skills of the young man. Ballack played his first game in the Junior Division on October 4, 1983. In his first season he managed to score twelve goals. Ballack quickly developed leadership skills in his youth team. In 1988 he moved to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt and won the Indoor District Championship, the Saxon Indoor Championship and finally the Saxon U-19 championship for years.

Career

Michael Ballack received his first professional contract in 1995 with the same club, which while changing his name to Chemnitzer FC. In 1995 he made his debut in the 2nd Bundesliga and a year later appointed to the German Under-21 national team team. After he was relegated to Regionalliga Nordost with Chemnitzer FC and missed the return of the following year, he was signed by 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1997. There Ballack developed into a regular player.

In 1999 he was accepted into the troops of a senior German team and moved to Bayer Leverkusen in the same year. In the following years he took the role of the central playmaker in Leverkusen. As part of the qualification for the 2002 World Cup, he also developed into an important leading player in the national team. In 2002 Ballack moved to Bayern Munich because of six million euros, where he received 8 million euros per year. He formed a successful phase in Bayern, but allegedly hostile fans and club bosses because of the alleged lack of loyalty to the club.

In 2006 Ballack, who meanwhile became the captain of the German national team under Klinsmann, decided to turn to Chelsea. He is one of the main recipients in the Premier League with a salary of EUR 134,000 a week. With the estimated net worth of EUR 22 million at the time, in 2009 he was eighth among the richest football professionals in the UK. According to a study by Thomson Media Control, Ballack was the most popular and best-selling advertising ambassador of all the active German players at the time. With Chelsea he won various trophies and in 2010 the British championship. His time at Chelsea and the national team will end in 2010. Ballack injured his inner ligament and ankle as a result of violations by Kevin-Prince Boateng, causing him to lose the 2010 World Cup.

After Ballack was thrown back in the same year as the second injury, Jogi Löw national coach told him in a conversation on June 16, 2011 that he would no longer be considered in planning forces. From 2010 to 2012 Michael Ballack returned to Bayer Leverkusen. The contract ended in 2012 in an agreement with the club. Ballack ended an active football career on October 2, 2012. After he previously rejected a farewell game with the national team because of personal differences, in March 2013 he invited Joachim Löw and Phillip Lahm to an independent organized separation game in Leipzig. In September of the same year, officially adopted and respected by DFB.

After his career, Ballack acts as advertising media for various companies such as Adidas, Samsung and Pepsi. Between 2012 and 2016 he worked as a football expert for ESPN.

Career highlights

Ballack won his first German championship in 1998 with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. After helping Leverkusen miss the title of championship with an own goal in the last match in 2000, he won Double with Munich in 2003, 2005 and 2006. So far, he was named the German soccer player this year three times. A number of other titles followed at Chelsea FC. With the German national team, Ballack became the representative of the world champion in 2002. Germany came to third place in 2006 and was in second place in the 2008 European Championship. Ballack was chosen to the All-Star team in four consecutive tournaments from 2002 to 2008.

Success tips

Michael Ballack emphasizes the importance of developing a mechanism for handling stress and pressure to succeed. In his view, detailed preparation for all types of problems is one of the keys to successfully handling pressure during important games.

At the same time, a successful leader must be willing to take responsibility and face problems at any time.