Nolberto Solano

Early career

Solano signed his first professional contract with the Peruvian Primera División side Sporting Cristal in 1992 at the age of 17. He made his league debut on 13 April 1992 in his team's 2–0 win against San Agustín. Towards the end of his first season at Sporting Cristal, he signed a one-year contract with Deportivo Municipal, before returning to Cristal at the end of 1993. He was part of the Sporting Cristal squad of the 1990s during which the club won the Peru Primera División Championships (1994, 1995 and 1996) and reached the finals of the 1997 Copa Libertadores. Along with Roberto Palacios, Flavio Maestri, Julinho and Jorge Soto, he was one of Sporting Cristal's most recognized players of the era.

Boca Juniors

In 1997, aged 22, he signed for Argentinian side Boca Juniors where he became a teammate of Diego Maradona, who nicknamed Solano the 'Maestrito'. Solano said in 2004 that he would like to play for Boca Juniors again, but admitted he was perhaps too old for the ambition to be realized.

Newcastle United

In June 1998, Solano was close to a £3.75 million transfer to Arsenal with a £16,000 weekly wage. In August, he signed for Newcastle United for £2.5 million, as one of Kenny Dalglish's final signings for the club. Solano's first team debut for Newcastle came in a Premier League match against Chelsea on 22 August 1998, when he came on after 67 minutes as a substitute for goalscorer Andreas Andersson in a 1–1 away draw. His…

Solano earned 95 caps and scored 20 goals for Peru. His debut on 3 May 1994 was a 1–0 win over neighbours Colombia at the Miami Orange Bowl, and his first goal on 25 June 1995 was the only one of a friendly win over visitors Slovakia. He played at the Copa América in 1995 and 1999, scoring in a 3–3 quarter-final draw with Mexico and the subsequent penalty shootout defeat in the latter, as well as featuring at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup. At the 2004 Copa América on home soil, Solano scored in group games against Venezuela (win) and Colombia (draw) in a run to the quarter-finals. He said in June 2005 that his international career was over, but returned in September 2007. He announced his international retirement in October 2009 with the team having not qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and said that he wanted to be a manager so he could finally take Peru to a World Cup.

Solano took the first step into coaching as the part-time first-team coach of Newcastle Benfield in 2012. In June 2012, he was confirmed as manager of Peruvian Primera División club Universitario. On 12 December, Universitario confirmed that Solano had left the club, despite the fact he guided the club into the top half of the table after being in the relegation zone when he first took charge. From three months from 23 April 2013, Solano was manager of José Gálvez of the same league. The team slipped from penultimate to last place in his brief spell. In May 2014, Solano became the head coach of Canadian club Internacional de Toronto in League1 Ontario. However, on 22 July, the club had its licensing agreement terminated due to issues regarding the payment of player salaries, ending his tenure. In May 2015, Solano was hired as a technical assistant to Ricardo Gareca on the Peru national team. He also led the U-23 team. The team qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their first for 36 years, but after a playoff defeat to Australia on penalties in June 2022 denied them a second consecutive appearance, the entire coaching staff departed. Solano was hired by AFC Eskilstuna, second-last in the Swedish second-tier Superettan, on 14 July 2023. He was dismissed on 10 October, with the team unmoved in the table. On 3 May 2024, Solano returned to north–eastern England, when he was appointed as manager of Blyth Spartans on a one-year contract. The team had dismissed Jon Shaw after…

Solano qualified for a temporary work permit in the United Kingdom when he signed for Newcastle, as he was an international regular for Peru. He later obtained a Greek passport through an ancestor, to bypass the need for a work permit as a citizen of the European Union. In 2001, the police and the Football Association investigated Solano's Greek passport as potentially fake. After a four-year investigation, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.