Roque Santa Cruz

By Craig · Published 27 October 2026

Roque Santa Cruz is a Paraguayan striker who scored 19 league goals in his first season at Blackburn, 2007/08, then three in four years after Manchester City paid £17.5 million for him. He is Paraguay's record scorer and, at 44, is still playing in his home league.

Clubs

Olimpia (1997 to 1999), Bayern Munich (1999 to 2007), Blackburn Rovers (2007 to 2009), Manchester City (2009 to 2013), Blackburn Rovers (loan, 2011), Real Betis and Málaga (loans), Málaga (2013 to 2014), Cruz Azul, Olimpia (2016 to 2021), Libertad (2022 to 2025), Nacional (2026)

Premier League

86 appearances, 26 goals

Honours

Champions League 2001, Bundesliga titles with Bayern, Premier League Player of the Month December 2007, Blackburn Player of the Season 2007/08

International

Paraguay, 112 caps, 32 goals, the national record

Fantasy price

£10.0m in 2007/08

Who did he play for?

He won three Paraguayan titles with Olimpia as a teenager and joined Bayern Munich in 1999. In eight years there he won the Bundesliga and the 2001 Champions League, as an unused substitute in the final, and scored 31 league goals in 155 games.

Mark Hughes brought him to Blackburn in July 2007. He came off the bench on the opening day at Middlesbrough and equalised with his third touch, and finished the season with 19 league goals, fourth in the league behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Emmanuel Adebayor. He was Player of the Month in December and the club's player of the season, and Blackburn finished seventh.

Injuries limited him to four goals in 2008/09. Hughes signed him again at Manchester City in June 2009 for £17.5 million. He scored three league goals in 20 games, lost his place when Roberto Mancini arrived, and went back to Blackburn on loan in January 2011 without scoring.

Loans at Real Betis and Málaga followed, then a permanent move to Málaga, a spell in Mexico and a return to Olimpia in 2016, where he won four titles in a row. He joined Libertad in 2022 and Nacional in 2026.

For Paraguay he scored 32 goals in 112 games and played in the 2011 Copa América final.

The moment: Wigan, 15 December 2007

The JJB Stadium, Saturday 15 December 2007. Wigan were 3-0 up after 37 minutes.

Santa Cruz volleyed one back in first-half stoppage time, scored again five minutes into the second half and equalised just after the hour, shortly after Brett Emerton had been sent off. Marcus Bent then scored twice to complete a hat-trick of his own. Wigan 5-3 Blackburn.

It was the first hat-trick by a player on the losing side in English football for over ten years. The last had been Dwight Yorke, for Aston Villa at Newcastle in September 1996.

Why the streets won't forget

Mark Hughes signed him twice, and the second time cost City £17.5 million for three league goals.

He holds the Copa Libertadores records for the oldest scorer in the knockout stage, at 40, and for the longest gap between goals in the competition, 25 years and 73 days.

He scored his 100th goal in the Paraguayan top flight for Nacional on 24 April 2026, aged 44.

Which seasons can you draft him in?

Two, both at Blackburn. His City seasons and his loan back at Ewood Park don't make the game's squads.

One season in two, and it's a good one: 19 goals for £10.0m, the third most expensive forward in the game that year.

Want him in your retro fantasy football team for 2007/08? He'll cost you £10.0m.