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Graeme Souness is a highly decorated player and manager
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Since his last managerial job, Souness has become an often-seen pundit on Sky Sports
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Find Graeme Souness wealth estimates here
Having not managed since 2006, Graeme Souness hasn’t been a factor in Premier League odds for quite a while. The former Rangers and Liverpool midfielder continues to appear on our screens on a frequent basis, however.
From a European Cup winning player, Souness has transitioned into the media sphere. He oft-features on Sky Sports’ flagship Premier League broadcasts, casting a stern eye over the biggest matches of the weekend.
How Much Is Graeme Souness Worth?
Souness’ non-pitch persona has translated well in the studio. An outspoken, sometimes controversial figure, Souness pulls no punches, even if his analysis can border on predictable.
Even if you’ve just got a passing interest in placing a bet on football, the snarl of Souness on Sky broadcasts will be familiar.
Those of a previous generation will remember a similar aggressiveness from Souness on the field, such was the combative nature of his midfield play in a career that started in 1970 and ended in 1991.
Net Worth
Estimations of Graeme Souness net worth rarely match up. Some figures are around £5 million. The upper end of the range tabs Souness as being worth £15 million.
Sky will pay a pretty penny for Souness’ insight, and he has pursued several interests away from the game since hanging up his boots in the early-1990s.
Despite a lengthy club career, representing Tottenham, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Sampdoria and Rangers, player earnings were way less than we are accustomed to in the 21st century, and will have not got him anywhere near this level of wealth.
His managerial career may have been more lucrative. Working in dugouts around Europe from the 1980s through to the early years of the 21st century, Souness was active as more money came into the game, and he was dismissed from several jobs, which may have resulted in some hefty payouts.
Back in 2007, Souness was the face of a consortium pushing to purchase Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The bid was believed to be in the region of £20 million. While there were other investors, Souness’ involvement in such a proposal is just one indication of his wealthiness.
To give some context, here are a few Souness’ Sky Sports colleagues and their net worth.
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Roy Keane - £44 million
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Gary Neville - £25 million
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Jamie Carragher - £16 million
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Micah Richards - £5 million
Wife
Graeme Souness is married to Karen Souness. The couple have been husband and wife for almost three decades, having celebrated their wedding back in 1994.
Graeme and Karen have a son together, and Graeme is a stepfather to two of Karen’s children. This was the second of Souness’ marriages after a relatively short relationship with Danielle Wilson in the 1980s.
Souness and Wilson met in 1982 and married a couple of years later. They had three children together but separated in 1989 and eventually divorced.
Children
Graeme Souness has four children and two stepchildren from his two marriages, according to the Daily Record. His stepdaughter Lauren presents sport for Qatari TV network Al-Jazeera.
Souness has generally kept his finally life private, and little information has been made public about his children.
Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba claims he doesn’t know who Graeme Souness is. Souness has become infamous for his consistent criticism of the World-Cup winning Frenchman.
It’s a social media era rivalry between a pundit and player with little connecting them, and a strange hill for Souness to die on.
A healthy portion of football pundits have taken swipes at Pogba. The motivation for these comments can often be questioned, and few are as vicious as Souness. Some of Souness’ colleagues have even come to Pogba’s defence.
Souness 🗣 "For me, the star of the show was Greenwood."
Micah 🗣 "Pogba's had four assists."
Souness 🗣 "We expect that from a 100 million pound man."@MicahRichards not allowing Graeme Souness to forget Paul Pogba's performance against Leeds United pic.twitter.com/IvRPkHo6ir
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 15, 2021
From the moment Pogba returned to Old Trafford for a world record fee, Souness has been critical.
Back in 2017, he said, "In my opinion, Man United had their trousers taken down paying £100 million. I'm yet to be convinced by that. He may be a player one day but right now as we sit here after one year in our football, I'm still waiting to be convinced."
A common theme of Souness’ gripes has been Pogba’s perceived attitude. The basis for these criticisms is shaky at best.
In 2020, Souness said, "Paul Pogba, I see him dancing at a wedding, shooting hoops, and a cynic in me thinks he doesn't want to be at United. He doesn't wanna play for United. How can you not wanna play for Man United?"
The game has come a long way in the 30 years since Souness played, but he remains convinced it would be easy to face Pogba.
"Pogba's attitude to the game is the polar opposite of mine. He goes out with one thought in his mind: 'I'm going to show everyone how clever I am today and be the star of the show.' He'd be an absolute doddle to play against."
Of course, Pogba remains a key figure in Premier League predictions and a star for France even if he’s not on Souness’ Christmas card list.
Galatasaray Flag
Graeme Souness was manager of Galatasaray in 1996 and led his team to a dramatic cup final win over their arch-rivals Fenerbahce.
The Eternal Rivalry is arguably the fiercest duel in the sport, an affair that’s often heated and provokes an atmosphere unlike any other.
This cup final was a mega occasion in sports betting. It had been a tense match, with Cimbom needing an extra-time winner from Dean Saunders to topple Fenerbahce, who were then the dominant force in Turkish football.
Souness took a large Galatasaray flag during the celebration and planted it in the centre circle at Fenerbahce’s stadium. It doesn’t take a wild imagination to picture how this angered the home fans.
Speaking about the incident in 2016, Souness explained the context.
"It was extremely hostile, to say the least, because the supporters - dress it up whatever way you want - don't like each other very much.
"One of the vice-presidents of Fenerbahce had said, 'what are Galatasaray doing signing a cripple as a coach?'
"He was referring to surgery I had a couple of years before, which was an open-heart surgery, and I thought that was a pretty unkind thing to say.
"So, nine months later we won the cup in their stadium. A great big Galatasaray flag was handed over the barbed wire fence and the players all took a turn in waving it, then it was handed to me.”
The reaction from the Fenerbahce faithful was unsurprisingly immediate and aggressive.
Souness continued, "I lifted my head and realised it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. A lot of Fenerbahce supporters were now trying to climb the fence and get onto the pitch.
"I managed to get under the police shield and there was lots of stuff bouncing off it, but I got into the tunnel and thought I'd gotten away with it.
"But just as I got into the tunnel I got a thump on the side of the head. A supporter had gotten into the tunnel. So I had a bit of a tussle with him and eventually got back to the safety of the dressing rooms."
Perhaps shockingly, this impulsive act didn’t lose Souness his job. Instead, it earned greater admiration from Galatasaray’s hierarchy.
"Once I got into the dressing room I thought, 'once the directors come down, that's it. I'm going to be sacked on the spot and on the first plane out of here tomorrow.’”
"But it was the exact opposite. Some of them had tears in their eyes and I've never been hugged and kissed by so many men in such a short period of time.
"They were absolutely delighted, obviously, that we'd won the cup, but they seemed even more delighted that I'd planted the flag in the Fenerbahce stadium.
"And I get it. Turkish society is quite a macho society and I think they could relate to that."
Memes
Every Sky Sports pundit is destined to get the meme treatment at some point. Graeme Souness’ most famous meme has stood the test of time better than many others, remaining a staple on football Twitter for several seasons.
The Souness meme first appeared back in 2016. Giving a particularly fiery rant about Arsenal’s performance in defeat to Manchester United, screenshots of Souness’ face in a rage were quickly circulated around the Twittersphere.
Every time Pogba does something special, which is often these days, this Souness meme does the rounds. I never want that to change 😂 pic.twitter.com/iY8qlsyttZ
— Stretty News (@StrettyNews) February 19, 2019
Those images are now saved on phones all over the world for meme usage at any given moment.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 9th December 2021