Diego Armando Maradona – born 30th October 1960, died 25th November 2020 – was a professional footballer who was twice the most expensive player ever. He played for a total of seven teams, including Barcelona and Napoli, and he was the head coach for six different teams, he also coached Argentina from 2008 to 2010. Maradona has been described as the greatest player of all time on many occasions, he was also one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Although despite all these astounding achievements he led a trouble life which included him using drugs and avoiding paying taxes.
Maradona’s club career
Maradona started his club career for Argentinos Juniors ten days prior to his sixteenth birthday and he set the record for the youngest player in the history of the Argentine Primera División. After only a few minutes Maradona produced a world famous nutmeg on Juan Domingo Cabrera, only twenty-four days after his debut he scored his first goal. In June 1982 Maradona transferred to Barcelona for the then record fee of £5 million dollars. At Barcelona, Maradona continued to prove his ability, he became the first Barcelona player to ever draw large applause from Real Madrid. However, illness and injury almost destroyed his career, but he recovered and moved on. In 1984, Maradona joined Napoli and yet again, broke the record for the most expensive signing. Maradona reached his peak at Napoli and soon inherited the captain’s armband, he helped Napoli lift their first ever league title in 1986/1987 and then a second one in 1989/1990, however his drug abuse soon came to light and he was forced to miss matches and pay a fine. He career tailed off as his drug problems grew and he soon found himself back in Argentina to finish off his career.
