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Mega-rich footballer Daniel Agger is feeling the credit crunch - after pulling out of two restaurants in Liverpool.
The cultured Danish international, who scored the third goal in the Reds' 4-0 mauling of Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, bought the Mexican and Italian eateries in the trendy Lark Lane area of the city.
But after less than two years, £35,000-a-week Agger has sold his stakes in the businesses.
Agger, who signed for Liverpool from Brodby for £5m in 2006, already co-owns a pub in Hvidovre, Copenhagen, where he and his family have been regulars for years.
During holidays from his duties with Liverpool, the Danish International was even spotted waiting tables and doing guest appearances behind the bar.
At the time of purchasing Agger said: "A lot of people probably already know that I like the restaurant environment because my pub in Hvidovre means an awful lot to me.
"I think it is really exciting to get into projects like these, but at the moment I only do it in my spare time. I don't want it to overshadow my football."
Now, the footballer has admitted owning the restaurants was "too much" and he became tired with the responsibilities.
But insiders in the Liverpool restaurant world say the credit crunch has him hard - and many restaurants are feeling the pinch.
Agger bought Mexican restaurant Que Pasa and also 52 Lark Lane - which he helped transform into a trendy Italian called Tirano.
But in a recent interview back in his native Denmark, the 24-year-old revealed: "I've pulled out if it.
"I no longer own the two restaurants but I still go there. It just got too much and I got a little tired.
"I'm only quitting the places in Liverpool, not the one back in Copenhagen because back there I've got family and friends around me while I had to take care of everything in Liverpool.
"So it was a completely different matter. It was just too much."
One restaurant owner in Liverpool said; "After the city became Capital of Culture last year, a large number of new restaurants opened.
"That was great at first but when the credit crunch hit, people simply stopped going out and more and more having been losing business or even closing.
"Daniel is right, the restaurant game does make you tired, especially when he's got to juggle life as a professional footballer as well."
Lark Lane is known as Liverpool's Bohemian Quarter and has a number of successful, established bars and restaurants.
Colourful centre-half Agger is currently trying to negotiate a new deal with Liverpool and is known for his numerous tattoos.
Among others, he has a Viking on his upper right arm with the quote "Memento mori" which means "Remember you will die".
He also has the quote "mors certa hora incerta" on his back, which means "Death is certain, but the hour is uncertain."
