FORMER Premier League star Florin Gardos has swapped football boots and matches for bricks and mortar by becoming a property developer.
Now he’s moving on after his new career renovating houses in London and building new homes in Romania.
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Southampton paid Steaua Bucharest £6m to sign the Romanian international defender in 2014.
However, the 35-year-old made just 18 appearances during four injury-plagued years at St Mary’s.
Gardos left the Premier League to go to his homeland to join Universitatea Craiova and then retired in 2022.
But he used the savings he accumulated from the beautiful game to start a new career and hasn’t looked back since.
Gardos said Professional sport: “I invested in houses in the UK after I was injured for the first time.
“I had money in the bank, but I didn’t invest it. There was a moment when I asked myself: what if something happened and I couldn’t play anymore?
“A friend who still lives in England guided me.
“We bought houses around London built in the 1930s and 1940s, rebuilt them and rented them out.
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“We bought them with extraordinary interest rates, from 1.5 to 2.5 percent. I had the advantage of my friend, who went out looking for properties.
“He knew the market well, he knew real estate agents and he had a renovation company. I learned from him.
“Taking out a loan is not easy. Both you and the seller are required to have a lawyer, and the document verification process takes a month or two.
“The risk of spikes decreases and is a good investment.”
After being lucky in our capital, Gardos, who won two Romanian titles with Steaua – now known as FCSB – returned to his country and enjoyed more success.
He said in a podcast: “I opened a company when I returned to Craiova and my associates advised me to start there.
“We built a block with 20 apartments and it sold very well.
“We started a second one and the world opened up to us, because people saw that we do quality things.
“I founded a second company alone in 2022.
“I focused on building houses in my hometown, Satu Mare.”
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