My Porsche? Pennant forgot that he even owned one!

Jermaine Pennant: Forgot he owned a Porsche!

Talk about footballers earning too much money.

It has emerged that Stoke City's Jermaine Pennant left his £100,000, top-of-the-range Porsche at a Spanish train station for FIVE months - because he forgot he owned one!

Just dwell on that thought for a few seconds while you work out how your going to cope with rising fuel and food costs...or indeed how you are going to afford your next season ticket!

According to reports from Spain's Daily Marca, Pennant - who reportedly owns a fleet of sports cars - abandoned the Porsche when he left Real Zaragoza for a loan spell at Stoke City last August, with the Spanish authorities contacting him through his former club last week.

When he got the call Pennant was initially baffled. No, he said, the car wasn’t his. Which seemed a little odd as the registration was P33NNT, a plate that gave a significant clue as to the owner’s identity.

On hearing that, Pennant admitted the fact he owned the Porsche had simply completely skipped his mind and he promptly paid the five figure accumulative parking fees, whilst arranging for a friend to pick up the vehicle for him!

During his year in Spain, the 28-year-old earned £80,000 a week as a result of the country's lenient tax regime, in which high-earning foreigners pay only 24 per cent for their first five years in the country.

Premiership stars in tax loophole 'dodge'

Wayne Rooney: Saved £597,000

First politicians...then bankers...now England’s top footballers have become the latest high-profile individuals to be named and shamed as tax dodgers.

By using complex tax avoidance schemes, Wayne Rooney alone avoided paying nearly £600,000 in the last two years, while even Gareth Barry was able to shirk more than £135,000.

The Sunday Times has uncovered dozens of super-rich footballers who have exploited a loophole which allows them to have parts of their wages paid into their own 'image rights' companies.

The players have two contracts with their clubs. They get a salary as a player and the other is for 'image rights' - earnings from shirts and other merchandising. These royalties are paid into a company which is only liable for 28% corporation tax rather than the 50% income tax.

And players can even take out loans from their companies where they ONLY pay 2% tax on the sum because it is regarded as a 'benefit in kind'!

Rooney, who is believed to earn over £200,000 per week, has borrowed £1.6million in two years from his company, saving £597,291 in tax.

The scheme is currently legal but will be a kick in the teeth for millions of ordinary supporters who pay tax at normal rates.

Now the taxman has demanded the clubs pay £100m on behalf of their players as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) investigates how to stop the arrangement.