The biggest football moves of summer 2010 - Raul Gonzalez Blanco
Some dramatic and spectacular transfers took place this transfer window. Some of the best players in the world changed teams and made their way across continents.
Here is a look at some more of the big transfers that took place this summer.
Raul Gonzalez Blanco
More commonly known as Raul, the player started his professional playing career with a team known as the San Cristobal de Los Angeles, he then made his move to Athletico Madrid. With Athletico he won a national title with the cadete team. Once the youth academy at the club was closed due to some financial reasons, the player made his move to local city rivals Real Madrid and the player hasn’t looked back ever since.
He started his professional career with the Real Madrid C side but made his move to the first team after only a few games. He became the youngest player to play for the team at the age of seventeen years and four months. Over the course of the next eight seasons that he spent with the team, he won three La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League titles. Raul was almost always present upfront for the team, he was initially partnered with Fernando Morientes and then with Ronaldo.
He was later made captain of the team in 2003, when Fernando Hierro was sold by the team. Blanco held the position until 2010. However, despite his fantastic record he has never won the Copa Del Ray.
Raul was the first player in the history of the Champions League to register fifty goals in the competition. He, however, is still the leading goal-scorer in the competition with his sixty six goals, and has also made the most number of appearances with his hundred and twenty eight appearances. He was the first player in the history of the competition to score in two separate Champions League finals. Samuel Eto’o is the only other player to have equalled this record.
Raul also holds a very notable distinction of never being red-carded in the fifteen years that he has played at a professional level. He has scored three hundred and twenty two goals for Real Madrid, and by doing so he broke the record of Alfredo di Stefano. He is also the all-time leading goal-scorer in the La Liga with two hundred and twenty seven goals.
Despite having signed a ‘contract for life’ with Real Madrid, Raul parted ways with the team in the summer of this year to join German side Schalke 04. This was because of the fact that the teams new manager, Jose Mourinho said that the player had already offered all that he could to the team and asking him to continue to doing so would have been very selfish; also the manager wished to introduce some fresh legs to the side and help them develop for the future.
Despite some hesitation initially Raul made his move to Schalke, he was by far the biggest name signing the team had ever made. His talents and ability will greatly be welcomed by the team that is relatively new to the Champions League. His experience and ability to lead the team could prove to be decisive in the German Bundesliga and in the Champions League. Raul has already scored his debut goal for the team in a game that was played against Bayern Munich, which helped the team win that game by three goals to one.
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