Sven-Goran Eriksson's luxury lakeside mansion sold in cut-price deal as family left fighting to pay off late ex-England manager's debts

Former England boss Eriksson, who passed away at the age of 76 in August 2024 after a battle against pancreatic cancer, left behind a huge amount of debt, which his family is struggling to pay off. In March this year, Eriksson's partner Yaniseth Alcides and children Lina and Johan organised an auction of his collection of memorabilia. They sold off several valuable collectables, including his Armani suit from the Three Lions’ round of 16 match at the 2006 World Cup, with hand-written team notes still in the pocket. The family raised a total of £140,000 to help settle the debts.

According to The Sun, Eriksson owed the UK taxman £7.4 million and an additional £1m in other debts. Now, his luxurious lakeside mansion in Torsby, Varmland, in his native Sweden, has been sold for £1.3m. The family had initially put the property on the market with a valuation of £2m, but later slashed the price by £400,000 to attract bidders. Eventually, an anonymous e-commerce businesswoman bought the house. 

The anonymous buyer visited the mansion as a child when her father renovated it for the late Swede. She told The Sun: "Of course I thought it was fantastic. But it was still far from obvious to me to buy it when it came up for sale. It felt like a big project and a big responsibility. However, the opportunity to manage a small part of Värmland’s cultural heritage, and at the same time enjoy the fantastic environment, was ultimately irresistible. 

"We live and work in Stockholm but my soul is always somewhere in northern Värmland. We will spend as much time as we can there. I come from Torsby myself, my whole family is in Värmland, and we are always in Torsby on all holidays. Our dream with Bjorkefors is to make it an obvious gathering place for the family for generations to come."

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Eriksson earned tens of millions in salary during his 42-year coaching career, during which he managed 12 clubs and four national teams. He made around £22.5m in his five-year stint in charge of England. However, by 2007, he fell into massive debt after being duped out of £10m by financial advisor Samir Khan, to whom he entrusted his fortune. The former coach later took Khan to court and even won the legal battle, but he never got back any of that lost money for unknown reasons.

Eriksson enjoyed a glittering managerial career that spanned over four decades across several countries and continents. He managed 12 different clubs across the globe, including Lazio, Roma, Manchester City, Leicester City and Benfica. Eriksson also managed the Ivory Coast, Mexico and the Philippines in international football. 

He won league titles in Italy and Portugal with Lazio and Benfica and guided England to back-to-back quarter-finals at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as their first non-British manager. At 76, Eriksson was finally able to live out his dream of managing Liverpool in March 2024, as he took charge of a legends match against Ajax and guided the Reds to a 4-2 win.