Scott Parker is a midfielder who plays for English side Tottenham Hotspur and England. Parker was a graduate from The Football Association’s School of Excellence at Lilleshall before joining Charlton Athletic’s youth academy. He reached Charlton’s first team and established himself while they were a Premiership side. In the middle of the 2003/04 season Parker was, at age 23, sold to Chelsea for £10 million. That season he got his first senior England cap and was also named Young Player of the Year in English football. The following season he was struggling for a place in a strong Chelsea midfield with the likes of Makélelé, Lampard, Robben and Tiago. That season he also only got one more England cap.

In July 2005 Parker transferred to Newcastle United for a fee of £6.5 million. He quickly established himself in the team and looked likely to win a place in the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but unfortunately became sick with glandular fever just a couple of months prior. The following season he was made captain for Newcastle and again he delivered consistently strong performances in the Premier League. He also won his third cap for England. At the end of the season Parker signed for West Ham for £7 million.

Parker played four years for West Ham. The first was marred by several injuries but the next three seasons had him voted Hammer of the Year by the supporters. After the 2010/11 season he was voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in England. West Ham were still relegated to the Championship and on 31 August he signed for Tottenham, for a fee of £5.5 million. Parker has started the season at Tottenham in fine form and has in 2011 also finally established himself as a regular in the England team. He put on a Man of the Match performance when England beat World Champions Spain in a friendly at Wembley on November 12th.

Gervinho is a winger who plays for English side Arsenal and Côte d’Ivoire. Gervais Yao Kouassi came through the ASEC Mimosas youth academy like a string of other Ivorian talents have done. That’s also where he was given the nickname Gervinho. He turned professional at 15 with Toumodi FC before leaving the Ivory Coast for Belgium two years later. Gervinho spent three seasons with the Belgian club Beveren, the last two as part of the senior team. In 2007 he joined the French Ligue 1 side Le Mans. In November that year he also made his debut in the Côte d’Ivoire senior national team, aged 20.
In July 2009 Gervinho transferred to Lille on a three year contract. They finished the 2009/10 season in 4th place before having a great 2010/11 season winning both the league and the French Cup. Gervinho made a big contribution by scoring 18 goals and caught the attention of several European clubs. On 12 July 2011 he signed for Arsenal, for a fee of £10.7 million. He received a red card in his Premier League debut but has since then rapidly settled in as a key player for the club.

Mario Balotelli is a striker who plays for English side Manchester City and Italy.
His parents were immigrants from Ghana but they gave him up for adoption at the age of three. His Italian surname is from his adopted family and he gained his Italian citizenship when he turned 18 years old. Througout his career in Italy he has been subjected to racial abuse from fans of other teams.
In Balotelli’s early years he came through a local team in Lombardy called Lumezzane. He made his senior debut for them aged 15 and then travelled to Barcelona on a trial. That was unsuccessful and he soon returned to northern Italy. Internazionale signed the motivated teenager on loan from Lumezzane, which Inter made permanent just before he turned 17. Later that year, in December 2007, Balotelli made his Serie A debut. He soon scored for Internazionale both in Coppa Italia and in Serie A and the season ended with them winning the Serie A title. Manager Roberto Mancini was still sacked because of their early departure from the Champions League that season. Mancini was replaced by Jose Mourinho. The following season also had the young Balotelli scoring in the Champions League and with Internazionale again winning the Serie A. Balotelli was hovever having a mounting amount of disciplinary problems. Mourinho accused him for not putting effor into his training and these problems continued into the next season. Several controversial incidents led to some fans and team mates also turning against Balotelli.

In August 2010 his former coach Roberto Mancini signed Balotelli to Manchester City for a fee of £24 million. His first season in England was troubled by an injury and some lack of control of his temperament. He received two red cards during the season but also scored some important goals. Manchester City finished the season by winning the FA Cup final and Balotelli was named man of the match. He has followed this up by starting the 2011/12 season in fine form, scoring and assisting several goals.