Many footballers, after being successful, opt to share their gains with others through various contributions either monetary or through gifts and donations.
Kenya has had the privilege of tasting the generosity of some well known footballers who have impacted many lives through donations and investments.
TeamKenya takes a look at some of the foreign players who have invested and started projects in Kenya.
Also Read: Best Goalkeepers Harambee Stars Ever Had and Where They Are
Jude Bellingham
England star, Jude Bellingham, is known for his contribution as he helped raise funds for building a school in Kenya.
The 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder is involved with the Mustard Seed Project, which constructed a school in Mombasa.
Bellingham also helped purchase Adidas football kits for his former old club, Birmingham City, and gifted a youth team in Mombasa.
Mesut Ozil
The former Arsenal midfielder in March 2019 gifted a young Kenyan fan with his Original signed Arsenal jersey after a picture of the boy herding cattle with a homemade Ozil shirt went viral.
He also sent two hats and two pairs of boots to the boy and the brother.
The German national went ahead and gifted original Arsenal jerseys and football boots to an entire young football team in Kenya.
All the jerseys had his name and number, 10, which resulted in the team adopting the name ‘Ozil FC’.
Also Read: Meet Player Who Scored More Goals For Harambee Stars than Oliech
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, who serves as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has been involved in various projects.
The PSG star is known for his generosity having donated 200,000 Euros (an average of Ksh25 million).
Messi, partnered with UNICEF and donated the funds that helped sink boreholes, buy water pumps and provide nutritional supplements to over 4,000 people in Kenya.
Samuel Etoo
The legendary Cameroonian forward in 2014 established a football academy in Nanyuki called the Samuel Eto'o Laikipia Unity Football Academy and Environmental Education Centre.
The purpose of the sporting academy was to nurture talents of young boys and girls in that region.
This happened after Eto'o graced the Laikipia Unity and Beyond Cup (LUC) finals along Zeitz Foundation's founder, Jochen, the then CEO at German sportswear company Puma.
Also Read: Why Eliud Kipchoge Lives in a Dormitory Despite Millions in Account