HARRY CONINX

Tales from the Pitch are easy to read biographies of rising new football stars.

At the age of nine, Bernardo Silva fulfilled his childhood dream of playing for Benfica, when he joined their youth academy. But getting into the first team proved to be much more difficult than he expected. His journey into professional soccer wasn't easy, but his flexibility, his sheer skill and his willingness to work harder than anyone else was always going to win out. Join wonderkid Bernardo Silva on his journey to the very top, winning countless trophies and achieving international stardom with one of the greatest teams in the world. This biography is one of the new titles in Leapfrog's Tales from the Pitch series. These books offer a fresh take on the familiar soccer biography format. Each of these fast-moving reads focuses on one up-and-coming soccer superstar, players who are still to reach the summit of their career. From the young Portuguese talent Jo o Felix, to Virgil van Dijk and Raheem Sterling, these biographies cover the full range of European soccer. The players are from all walks of life and have faced failure, injury and rejection, to ultimately make their dreams come true. So meet the fresh young talent behind the iconic tackles and goals and find out what makes each of these players so special.

Lionel Messi är en av de absolut bästa fotbollsspelarna i världen. Han har spelat i flera lag och totalt har han vunnit 44 titlar med de lagen. Det är flest i fotbollshistorien! Han är en riktig ikon, en superstjärna. Han spelar i Inter Miami, men vägen dit har varit lång och snårig.Forwarden Lionel Messi har haft många motgångar i livet. Som barn var han mycket mindre än andra i hans ålder, så han fick tillväxthormon. Ingen kunde tro att han skulle blir en av våra mest fantastiska fotbollsspelare. Men det blev han, och vid 36 års ålder är han det fortfarande. Den här boken handlar om Messis resa från 5-åring till vuxen fotbollsstjärna. En fantastisk berättelse om en spelare som mot alla odds har nått toppen, och hållit sig kvar där, år efter år.Vår nya serie Livet på planen består av delvis verklighetstrogna fristående berättelser om kända fotbollsspelare. Vi inleder serien med tre böcker: om Lionel Messi, om Kylian Mbappé och om Chloe Kelly. Alla tre stora stjärnor inom sporten.Böckerna beskriver deras uppväxt, hur karriären startade, hur tankarna gick, och hur de hamnade där de är idag. Författarna har tagit sig vissa friheter, några händelser är ur verkliga livet, medan andra är fantasier.

Rashford plays for Manchester United and England. Now a lethal striker for his boyhood club - and an international superstar - Marcus Rashford is living his dream. But from navigating a ruthless academy to playing under one of the fiercest managers in the game, Marcus's meteoric rise to the top of Manchester United wasn't always easy. This is the story of how a boy from Manchester used his passion and his talent to steer himself on a path to greatness. This biography is one of the new titles in Leapfrog's Tales from the Pitch series. These fast-moving reads offer a fresh take on the familiar football biography format. Each book focuses on one up-and-coming football superstar, often players who are still to reach the summit of their career. The players are from all walks of life and have faced failure, injury and rejection, making these moving and inspirational stories. The books are brimming with football banter that will have the knowing fans smiling. And each players story is littered with football tricks and tips, so readers can learn the arts of the glorious game. At only 120 pages long, Tales from the Pitch are easy to read and very fast-paced reads. So, meet the footballers behind the iconic tackles and goals, and find out what makes each of these players so special.