Publisher's Synopsis
From rookie to final playing sticker, this unique collection showcases the world's greatest footballers through their Panini sticker album appearances. Every footballing star has a 'rookie' Panini sticker, the first time they appear as a young, hopeful and triumphant entry, being about to write their names in the history books. These stickers are among the rarest and most expensive around, including the first Lionel Messi appearance in 2004/05, Cristiano Ronaldo in his debut season at Sporting Lisbon in 2002/03 and Monaco's 18-year-old Kylian Mbappé from the 2016/17 Panini Foot Ligue 1 set. The much-loved Panini football sticker albums have documented the rise of footballing legends from David Beckham to Neymar Jnr. The continuing editions of the book provide a perfect snapshot of the game's heroes, season-by-season and through each international competition. Here each star is featured when they are just breaking into the team, right through to their swansong as an experienced and feted star. Smiling or sullen, permed, mulleted or crop-haired, full of excitement or displaying a 'done it all' expression, we follow their successes and their disappointments. Some are one-club players modelling a succession of styles, others are well-travelled expensive acquisitions in their new colours. We see Gary Lineker going from a young hopeful at Leicester City to spells at Everton, Barcelona and Spurs, meanwhile becoming one of England's stars in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads. Similarly, the fortunes of Maradona, Henry, Zidane, Rooney, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Cantona, Buffon, Neymar, Mbappé and others are charted in all their Panini glory with accompanying statistics and the history of each player's career. Panini Legends provides a fascinating celebration of the game's top players as only the famous sticker brand can. It uses the familiar poses and frames of the full colour stickers to indulge the nostalgia of those who collected the originals, to see how their heroes changed with each new season, and to track the rise of each of them to superstardom.
