Michael Ballack grew up in a town named after Karl Marx and a street named after Salvador Allende. But these two socialist icons could be turning in their graves at the deal which will make him the highest-paid footballer in history.
Ballack's rise from working-class rags to riches reached its peak yesterday when he clinched a £30million deal with Chelsea. The German captain will pocket a basic salary of £130,000 a week, or nearly £7million a year.
>>>See below, British football's most expensive transfers ever
This is even more than David Beckham or Thierry Henry earn. He has also been handed a £2million signing-on fee, after joining the West London team on a free transfer from Bayern Munich. Ballack, 29, has come a long way from the East German eighth-floor flat he grew up in under Communist r u l e , earning pocket money by selling bottles. The flat was in an area named after a workers' leader, the Fritz Heckert Estrate, on Salvador Allende Street – named after the Chilean socialist leader.
And his hometown was Karl-Marx Stadt, recalling the author of The Communist Manifesto. Ballack insists he seriously considered playing football for a living only when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and opened up new opportunities.
While the father-of-three usually shuns the howbiz life, he is not universally popular. He rowed with former team-mate Christian Ziege and was booed by Bayern fans at his last game for the club at the weekend.
Last month, football legend Pele sniffed:'I'm sorry, but Ballack is not a top player.' Ballack became a German martyr in the 2002 World Cup, when his foul in the semi-final prevented a South Korea goal.
It also earned him a yellow card, ruling him out of the final, which Germany lost 2-0 to Brazil. Ballack was close to tears, but coach Rudi Voller said: 'Him up there saw that, and one of these days you will get something back for it.' In a recent interview, Ballack himself said: 'It has always been my dream to play abroad once in my career – as long as a suitable offer came along.'
It looks like Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has now generously granted his wish.
British football's most expensive transfers ever: 
Michael Ballack - Bayern Munich to Chelsea, £30million
Rio Ferdinand - Leeds to Manchester United, £30million
Juan Sebastian Veron - Lazio to Manchester United, £28.1million
Didier Drogba - Marseille to Chelsea, £24 million
Ruud Van Nistelroy - PSV to Manchester United, £19million
Source:
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article....4&in_page_id=7 
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