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22nd Jan 2014

Celtic legend Jorge Cadete has fallen on hard times

The former Portugal and Celtic hitman is so broke he's been reduced to living in his parents' house

JOE

The former Portugal and Celtic hitman is so broke he’s been reduced to living in his parents’ house

Although Jorge Cadete didn’t spend too long at Celtic, he managed to score nearly 40 goals for the club in his spell between 1996-98, and is well remembered thanks to a fantastic song that the fans at Celtic Park composed in his honour.

However, last night in his native Portugal, many were shocked to learn that the player is in dire financial straits and has had to move back in with his parents at the age of 45, despite having earned nearly €4 million during his footballing career.

Cadete spoke to Fora de Jogo on television network SIC, where he revealed that he had been living off unemployment benefits of around €139 a week, but that they had been suspended as a result of there being a house in his name, which was seized by the bank, according to Lux.pt.

Cadete was the first Portuguese player to be the highest scorer outside of his home country, when he netted 32 in 38 appearances for Celtic in the 1996/97 season making him the highest scoring player in Britain, but those achievements in the past aren’t helping him to pay his bills in the present. Cadete told the show that he has returned to the house where he grew up and now lives again with his parents, after a series of bad investments saw him lose over a million euro, and that two divorces have also helped to eat in to what he had saved.

He also added that his financial problems and the problems during his divorces have created difficulties for him and his daughter from his first marriage, who is now 23-years-old. “It’s not a normal relationship between a father and a daughter” he said, “we don’t interact or talk day to day”.

He added that in football, most players think that they have plenty of friends during their career, when things are going well, but in reality they’re not there when things become difficult.

At the moment he finds himself out of work, but has tried his hand at a variety of different jobs including selling coffee machines to businesses, and working as a PR for a night club on the south coast of Portugal.

Cadete is not feeling too sorry for himself however, as he sees this as yet another challenge that he can overcome. He is currently studying for a qualification in exercise and physical training, which he hopes can lead to resuming a career in football again.