Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography

by Guillem Balague

Overview

The definitive biography of Cristiano Ronaldo, named Football Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards 2016

Fully updated to include the 2017-18 season and Ronaldo's transfer to Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time, a dream he pursued from the age of just twelve when he left his humble origins on Madeira behind.

It wasn't long before he had the biggest clubs in Europe knocking on his door, but it was Manchester United who won the race for his signature. Under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo developed into the complete footballer and athlete, winning three league titles and a Champions League along the way.

He then became the biggest galáctico of them all when he transferred to Real Madrid for a record-breaking fee. Unprecedented success in the Champions League and a record-equalling five Ballons d'Or followed, before his sensational move to Juventus in the summer of 2018.

Guillem Balagué, respected football journalist and expert on the Spanish game, provides the definitive account of a twenty-first-century footballing icon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474611565
Publisher:	Orion Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	197,278
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Guillem Balague is the author of Messi, Barça, Pep Guardiola, A Season on the Brink, Cristiano Ronaldo, which won the British Sports Book Football Book of Year award in 2016,and Brave New World, his bestelling biography of Mauricio Pochettino. A key fixture of Sky Sports' coverage of Spanish football for many years, he now broadcasts on BBC Radio 5 Live and for LaLiga TV from Barcelona. He is also the UK Correspondent for AS, the Madrid-based Spanish sports newspaper, and El Larguero, Spain's most popular sports radio show. His work appears regularly in The Times and in Champions magazine, where he writes a regular column on international football. He is the Director of Football of Biggleswade United, and he won Influencer of the Year 2016 in the Football Blogging Awards.

http://www.guillembalague.com/en/home

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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Author's Note ix

Prologue: What We Are, Where We Are, Where We Are Going 1

1 Madeira: A Small Island, Like All the Others 19

2 Lisbon: Shaping Destiny 59

3 Joining Manchester United: No Longer Child's Play 104

4 Flourishing in Manchester: But Not the Finishing Line 160

5 The Real Madrid Transfer Maze: A Tortuous Agreement 202

6 First Years at Real Madrid: Living the Dream? 235

7 Real Madrid: A Rollercoaster 303

8 Another Coach Bites the Dust 354

9 One Superhero Under the Tutelage of Another 372

10 Victory, the Spectacle, the Beginning of the End: 11 October 2014 386

Epilogue 407

Bibliography 415

Acknowledgements 420