Norberto Albino Solano Todco is a former Newcastle United and Aston Villa cult hero who was born on 12 December 1974 in Lalloa , Peru.
Solano was one of the finest wingers of his generation in the EPL having played with distinction for nine years in the league. Having played for the likes of Deportivo Municipal and Boca Juniors, the Peruvian moved to Newcastle as an unknown attacker in 1998 for £2.5m. He immediately made an impact securing the right wing of attack going on to play 172 league games across two spells scoring 29 goals most of them screamers for the Toon Army . Blessed with a clever touch , an accurate shooting /passing and ball control coupled with his dribbling ability , the Peruvian was a delight to watch as he dazzled fans with his skills and mesmerized runs as well as his dead ball precision.
With him in the side, Newcastle played in 2002-2003 UEFA Champions League as well as reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup the following season. This was not all as he also played in the 1999 FA Cup loss against treble winning Manchester United. Despite been a handful for most defenders, Solano was traded to Aston Villa where he again became a fan favourite for £1.5m in 2004 with James Milner going the opposite direction . The attacker did not take time to settle scoring eight goals for Villa that season; winning the Club's Player of the Year award as well as being the club's top scorer in his debut season before rejoining Newcastle for £1.5m having passed on the opportunity of moving to Merseyside Liverpool.
Solano played only two seasons in the North East before pushing a move to West Ham citing a desire to be closer to his family who had moved to London at the time in 2007. Although he went downhill from then on, he still managed to play 23 league games for the Hammers scoring four goals before moving to Greek side AE Larissa the next season going on to play for the likes of Leicester City, Hull City (English Tier 2 league ) and finally Hartlepool United bringing an end to am illustrious career.
In total he won 95 caps for the Peruvian national team scoring 20 goals spanning from 1994-2009.
At present the Peruvian has coached the likes of Northern Irish side Newcastle Benfield as well as Universitat in his homeland Peru although he was linked with League One side Gillingham not long ago.
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