Michael Ballack is selling his rare, classic Ferrari for £14million – which is more than he was worth as a player.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder is flogging the 250 GT SWB California Spider.
It was the first of the models that were ever built in 1960.
Retired German footballer Ballack bought it after forming a close friendship with countryman and F1 legend Michael Schumacher.
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The Ferrari has a top speed of 145mph and boasts a 0-60mph of 7.2 seconds.
It is set to sell at auction by RM Sotheby’s for up to £14million.
During Ballack’s 17-year playing career his combined transfer fees were just over £7million.
He moved from Chemnitzer to Kaiserslautern for just £60,000 in 1997.
The former Premier League signed for Bayer Leverkusen two years later for £2.1million.
Bayern Munich snapped him up for £5.1million in 2002.
When he moved to Chelsea in 2006 it was on a free transfer but was raking in a reported £121,000-a-week.
Ballack, now 47, has owned the Ferrari for 16 years after snapping it up during his time at Stamford Bridge.
He played for the West London club 105 times and scored 17 goals up until 2010.
He played 98 times for Germany, finding the net 42 times, as reported by Luxury Auto News.
An RM Sotheby’s spokesperson said: “Not very often do you come across a car that checks all the boxes of what makes an automobile exceptionally collectable like this California Spider does.
“As an icon amongst icons, it holds a unique place in Ferrari history as the very first 250 GT SWB California Spider ever built and holds remarkable provenance as Ferrari’s factory show car at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show.
“Its current owner, German football star Michael Ballack, has cherished and maintained it for the past 16 years.
“Ballack, at the peak of his career, developed a close friendship with fellow German athlete legendary Formula 1 Driver Michael Schumacher and through this friendship Ballack’s passion for driving and Ferrari as a brand deepened.
“Not only for contemporary models, but also for the best examples of classic Ferraris.
This very enthusiasm naturally led him to one of Maranello’s finest outputs, the California Spider—the ultimate form of open-top driving from Ferrari’s golden era.
The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider stands as one of the most important and finest examples of its kind in existence.”
The auction takes place in Monterey, California, US, in August.
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