After having what most would consider was a highly-respectable football career, Wayne Bridge is not missing the life he left behind three years ago.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Bridge gave an honest assessment of where his priorities lie now:
When I stopped playing, I stepped away from it entirely. I spent time with my family.
Having been the subject of two high-profile moves during his 14-year spell in the Premier League, Bridge now feels embarrassed by the lucrative sums his services commanded.
Among the first batch of expensive acquisitions Roman Abramovich's money enabled Chelsea to sign, the England full-back would later move to the newly-monied Manchester City for more then that again.
Although the combined fee for both transfers came to a relatively moderate £17 million, it does not sit well with Bridge:
People ... say you are not worth it and that's why I say it's embarrassing. I'm just that kind of person I suppose.
Maybe some people love being in that position, but I felt it was embarrassing to be earning that much.
Having only turned 37 in August, one would be forgiven for assuming Bridge had a greater affinity with the Premier League's increasingly wealthy components.
When he joined Chelsea in the summer of 2003, Bridge had not yet turned 23 years of age. Yet, he had already played over 150 Premier League games for Southampton.
Endearing him perhaps with a steadier head than most young stars thrust into the limelight, Bridge is certain that the era of super-rich owners that began with Abramovich shows no signs of stopping yet:
Where will the transfer market go? I just don't know. The whole thing has gone crazy, but you cannot see it stopping any time soon.
It depends how many more billionaires come in and buy football clubs I suppose. If they keep turning up and TV money keeps rolling in, the crazy fees and wages will continue.
It does not seem however that Bridge is going to be worrying too much about that.
Having previously been a contestant in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, Bridge, like quite a few former players before him, has taken to playing poker competitively.
