Roque Santa Cruz

Regarded as a wonder kid in his youth, Roque was recruited to the Olimpia Asunción youth division at the age of 9. He was the undisputed top scorer in the youth setup for many seasons and at the ripe age of 15 he was promoted to the first team. He made his debut at 16 and helped Olimpia Asunción win the Paraguayan championship in 1998 and 1999, which also brought Roque the the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award in 1999.

Bayern Münich moved for the youngster in 1999 while he was still 18. For the next 8 years Roque collected several honours with the German club including a League and Cup double, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.. Still his time in Germany was plagued with injuries and he never obtained a secure place in the team. Of his 199 appearances for the club 86 came as a substitute and Roque only scored 31 goals in 155 league games (1 goal in 5 games).

Blackburn Rovers snitched the Paraguayan Centre forward in a modest £4m transfer in July 2007. In the Premiership Roque came into full blossom under the guidance of Manager Mark Hughes. 23 goals in 43 games during his first season was just as good as during his heydays back in Asunción. Sadly his second season for Blackburn was ruined by injuries and he only managed to add 6 more goals from 27 games.

Mark Hughes moved to take charge of Manchester City during the summer of 2008 and In January 2009 a big money move for Roque to Manchester City was heavily discussed. However the lethal forward had to wait until after the season to get his dream move. On July 22nd 2009 Roque finally signed for City in a deal expected to be worth £17 million. More than 4 times the value that had brought him to Blackburn in the first place.

Playing Record:

Season:	Club:	LEA	LEG	FCA	FCG	LCA	LCG	ECA	ECG	TOA	TOG
1998-1999	Olimpia Asunción (PAR)	23	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	13
1999-2007	Bayern Münich (GER)	155	31	0	0	0	0	44	7	199	38
2007-2009	Blackburn Rovers	57	23	4	1	6	4	3	1	70	29
2009-	Manchester City
Total:		235	67	4	1	6	4	47	8	292	80

LA = League Attendances. LG = League Goals.
FCA = FA Cup Attendances. FCG = FA Cup Goals.
LCA = League Cup Attendances. LCG = League Cup Goals.
ECA = European Cup Attendances. ECG = European Cup Goals.
TOA = Total Attendances. TOG = Total Goals