Remember when Real Madrid signed Thomas Gravesen?

The Spanish giants were in the midst of their Galactico era when they spent £3 million on the Everton midfielder.

According to Danish newspaper BT, Gravesen invested his career earnings in a number of financial businesses and struck the jackpot. He is now worth over €100m (£82.61m –about enough to bid for. However, Gravesen has proved all his doubters wrong and then some. According to Danish newspaper BT, Gravesen invested his career earnings in a number of financial businesses and struck the jackpot. He is now worth over €100m (£82.61m –about enough to bid for Gareth Bale) and has just announced his second 'retirement' at the age of 37.

While his career on the pitch was fairly bizarre, his life off the pitch was just crazy.

A new biography has just been released telling some rather incredible tales surrounding Gravesen and his life.

In it, he’s described as 'a grenade with the pin pulled out' and that just about sums him up.

He can now be found in a luxurious gated community in Las Vegas, where he calls Andre Agassi and Nicolas Cage his neighbours.

Rumours claim that he made a £100 million fortune in America, while there are reports suggesting he lost £54 million in a single game of poker.

And, thanks to Daily Mail, we look at five of the whackiest Gravesen stories that are included in his new biography.

Knocking one of Ronaldo’s teeth out

Gravesen was a no-nonsense tough-tackling midfielder - and that was the case in training as well.

But he was also a loveable character and would often grab his star-studded teammates into great big bear hugs.

He once went a bit too far with Brazilian striker Ronaldo, though.

After picking him up and throwing him around, Ronaldo lost a tooth.

He was also involved in a training ground fight with Robinho.

He might have been a Real Madrid player but Gravesen wasn’t going to change.

Dating a porn star

Gravesen’s life changed dramatically after his move to Madrid.

Previously, the midfielder had played for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburg and Everton and was able to get on with his life rather peacefully.

As soon as he moved to the Bernabeu, he was a worldwide star both in Spain and Denmark.

Gravesen wasn’t used to the attention but it did enable him to land porn star Kira Eggers.

His status suddenly went from a high-profile footballer to a celebrity.

He's now married to Kamila Persse.

Shooting fireworks at Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney was emerging at Everton and it seemed the young superstar unsettled Gravesen.

We’ll let then-Everton manager David Moyes tell this story:

“It was the old gym, it's about 60 yards long. Thomas and Wayne, they were shooting fireworks at each other. They had big rockets full of gunpowder, they were holding one end and shooting them at each other.”

Moyes added: “Tommy was mental in a good way. He was a great player and we loved him. He wouldn't listen but it wasn't in a bad way. I think it was a wee bit where he didn't want to hear you and just did his own thing. He was crazy in his training. He was a good lad but mental.”

Working as a car salesman

During his early days at Vejle Boldklub in Denmark, Gravesen wasn’t happy with just being an extremely talented young footballer.

Therefore, he decided to also work as a car salesman to keep him motivated.

“I need to know that the alarm clock rings in the morning, otherwise I will never go to bed,” Gravesen said.

“Previously, I had a period of three to four months where I did not work. I only slept in the morning and could not sleep at night I switched completely night and day and could clearly notice that my game was getting worse and my condition worse.”

High roller in Las Vegas

Gravesen seemingly vanished when he retired from football in 2009.

Four years later, he was reported to be living in Las Vegas in a very famous gated community.

Newspapers were suggesting he was now worth between £80-£100 million but there is something of a mystery regarding how this happened.

He may well have won it during a game of poker, considering there are suggestions that he once lost £54 million during one game.

On a poker forum Two Plus Two, user TarantulaGargantu told the extraordinary story of the night Gravesen lost an absolute fortune.

The story goes: “I can confirm he has made £80m but it did not come easy. I was there in one of the sessions where he was playing some guy heads-up and lost £54m in one night. Can't say who it was against, though.”

That story has not been verified but it’s certainly believable.

He also drives around in his Mercedes SLR McLaren - worth around $500,000.

​'Only £100m? Where's the rest!'

That's the response Thomas Gravesen gave when he was asked about his net worth years after retiring from professional football.

The Dane was always an enigmatic character throughout his playing career, but interest in him has surged in recent years after stories broke claiming he had amassed a fortune following the end of his playing career.

Professional Football Career

While certainly not the most decorated footballer of all time, Gravesen's club career included spells with some pretty high profile teams.

Thomas Gravesen Poker Earnings Date

He rose to prominence in Germany with Hamburg before making the switch to Merseyside with ​Everton, featuring in over 150 games for the Toffees.

Thomas Gravesen Poker Earnings History

The Dane made a surprising move to Real Madrid in 2004 - he would later admit he initially thought the approach came from Atletico, not Los Blancos - though his two seasons at the Bernabeu ended without a trophy.

The only competition successes he enjoyed came at Scottish giants Celtic, winning the Premier League and Scottish Cup double during the 2006/07 season before re-signing for Everton for his final campaign in professional football.

He also represented Denmark on the international stage, scoring five goals in 66 caps and featuring at Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

A Gravelly Enigma

Gravesen made plenty of headlines for his alleged offbeat personality.

During his Everton days he and Wayne Rooney, who had just broken onto the scene and established himself as a regular under David Moyes at the time, shot fireworks at each other in an old gym, leading current West Ham boss Moyes to remark: 'He was a good lad but mental.'

In August 2006, he was involved in a training scuffle after nailing Brazilian Robinho with a hard tackle, which saw former ​Real manager Fabio Capello ​admit: 'The way he is, we won't have problems with him. He's just a little bit peculiar. I don't mess with him, he works well tactically.

'His behaviour is like this, and I don't like it, everything has to be done like he wants it to be done.'

He also knocked out legendary striker Ronaldo's tooth...

Living in Las Vegas

Thomas Gravesen Poker Earnings Report

In 2013, it was reported by Danish outlet ​BT that the mysterious Gravesen had set up shop in Las Vegas with his partner Kamila Persse, who works in real estate. His neighbours included tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, and Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage.

He was seen out and about driving in a Mercedes SLR McLaren, which cost around ¢500,000 and had a top speed of 208mph - which is pretty fast and perfect for running errands in.

That same report from 2013 added that the former midfielder was 'good for a huge, unknown million' - while BT stop short of explicitly saying Gravesen made investments, ​the Sun and ​Eurosport both explicitly make that exact claim.

A Man Shrouded in Mystery

Thomas Gravesen Poker Earnings Odds

How Gravesen made his rumoured millions is still yet to be completely clarified.

One story that first emerged on poker forum ​Two Plus Two is that Gravesen became embroiled in a high-stakes poker game.

A post from from a user named TarantulaGargantu - yep, really - ​revealed: 'I can confirm he has made £80m but it did not come easy. I was there in one of the sessions where he was playing some guy heads-up and lost £54m in one night. Can't say who it was against, though.'

TarantulaGargantu can't be tracked down as the user is no longer part of Two Plus Two, so the identity of the player who lost to Gravesen may never be revealed.