Chelsea icon Arjen Robben swaps football for completely new sport as he turns pro at 41

FORMER Chelsea star Arjen Robben has swapped the right wing for a racket… by becoming a PADEL professional.

The Netherlands legend won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups with the Blues.

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Real Madrid paid £24million for him in 2007, and he went on to spend a decade with Bayern Munich.

Robben hung up his boots after a spell with Dutch side Groningen in 2021, and devoted himself playing padel.

A fan of the racket sport since his Bayern days, he had a court built in his home’s garden in his eagerness to hone his skills.

Robben has since gained a professional licence to play the tennis-like game, which is huge in mainland Europe and south America.

And the 41-year-old stunned padel experts by qualifying for his first major finals at the weekend.

Robben and partner Werner Lootsma overcame six match points in a qualifier to win a place at the CUPRA FIP Tour tournament in the Netherlands.

He drew a huge crowd to the event, but the pair lost 6-1, 6-0 to Dutch stars Sten Richters and Thijs Roper.

Robben said: “Zlatan Ibrahimovic made padel an important sport in Sweden, and I think I can do the same in the Netherlands.

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“I used to play three times a week when I was in Germany.

“I don’t think I can take myself too seriously. I started with low expectations.

“But I tried to fight on the court, and score as many points as possible.”

Opponents Richters and Roper said: “Arjen is the best former professional footballer we know who plays padel.”

A £12m buy from PSV Eindhoven in 2004, Robben made 106 Chelsea appearances and scored 19 goals.