Family of former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson 'forced to sell luxury lakeside mansion for reduced price' - in bid to help settle his £8million debt

Sven-Goran Eriksson's luxury mansion has reportedly been sold at a cut-price, as his family look to pay off his large debts.

Eriksson, who died last August due to pancreatic cancer aged 76, owned a seven-bed house in Torsby, in his native Sweden - located on the banks of Lake Fryken where he lived out his days with his partner Yaniseth Alcides.

The former England manager reportedly had assets worth £4.8million but owed a staggering £7.25m to HMRC alone. He also owed reportedly had at least £1m outstanding in other debts.

And in a bid to help reduce that outstanding debt, his family have sold his old mansion called Bjorkefors - albeit at a substantial loss.

According to The Sun, the property was on the market for £2m but his family had to lower the price by £400,000 to attract any prospective buyers.

And they go on to add that an anonymous e-commerce businesswoman has now bought it for an undisclosed sum of at least £1.3m - meaning a potential £700,000 loss on market value alone. However, the loss is greater as Eriksson bought the place in 2002 for £4.5m - meaning the true value lost is around £3m.

The buyer in question has revealed that the house had special memories for her as she visited it as a child with her dad who renovated it for Eriksson.

'Of course I thought it was fantastic,' she said of the property - which boasts six bathrooms, a tennis court and a pool house among its features.

'But it was still far from obvious to me to buy it when it came up for sale. It felt like a big project and a big responsibility.

'However, the opportunity to manage a small part of Varmland's cultural heritage, and at the same time enjoy the fantastic environment, was ultimately irresistible.

'We live and work in Stockholm but my soul is always somewhere in northern Varmland. We will spend as much time as we can there.

'I come from Torsby myself, my whole family is in Varmland, and we are always in Torsby on all holidays.

'Our dream with Bjorkefors is to make it an obvious gathering place for the family for generations to come.'

Selling the property is the latest thing Eriksson's family have done in a bid to ease the financial burden they have taken on since his death.

In March, they were forced to auction off his memorabilia - such as a lunch invitation from the late Queen. 

Also up for auction was his Armani suit from a 2006 World Cup match with his hand-written team notes still in the pocket.  

The 349 items reported to have gone under the hammer for a combined total of £140,000 also include his BBC Coach of the Year trophy in 2001 and a Premier League Manager of the Month award from his time as Manchester City boss.

An Ivory Coast top signed with a special message by former forward Didier Drogba from Eriksson's time as national coach in 2010 was sold as well.

The Swedish auction house told The Sun that there may be even more items put up for sale by the family in future. 

'There was huge interest mostly from England, Italy and Portugal,' they said.

'It was a reflection of the love and affection that people had for Sven in countries all over the world.

'We are very pleased with how both auctions have gone and there may be a third one of items of his furniture.'

Eriksson was estimated to have received around £7m in pay-offs alone from England, Manchester City and Mexico. 

The Swede, who managed England between 2001 and 2006, previously described himself as being 'stupid' with his money.

In one of his last ever interviews, he told The Guardian: 'I was never interested in money - I never took care of it and trusted people to do that for me. I was stupid not to control where the money went. I realised that when I didn't have any more cash!

'I still don't know what I have in the bank.'