Juan Román Riquelme

Juan Román Riquelme (born June 24, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football who plays for Boca Juniors. A longtime Argentine international, Riquelme is best known for his spells with Boca Juniors and Villarreal. A playmaker, his main assets are his passing, vision, technique and setting the tempo of play as well as his goalscoring ability from midfield.

Club career

Early career

Riquelme was born into a family of ten in poverty, and grew up in Don Torcuato. Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate spotted him when he was a youth player for Argentinos Juniors. He chose to move to Boca in 1995 - for US$800,000 - as he had been a fan of the club since childhood. A year later, on 10 November 1996, Riquelme played his first professional match in a 2–0 win over Unión de Santa Fe. Two weeks later, he scored his first senior goal, in Boca's 6–0 win over Huracán.

Barcelona

In 2002, after seven successful seasons with Boca Juniors, Riquelme was transferred to Barcelona for a reported €11 million. Shortly before his departure from Boca, his brother, Cristian, was kidnapped. Riquelme negotiated for his brother's release and eventually paid the ransom. He stated this was one of the reasons why he chose to leave Boca, although it was also noted Riquelme was in dispute with Boca over his contract at the time. Louis van Gaal described Riquelme as a "political signing" and treated him with...
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