Franco, Guillermo life and biography

Guillermo Luis Franco Farquarson, commonly known as Guille Franco (born 3 November 1976) is a Argentinian-born Mexican football player who plays as a striker. He is currently contracted to West Ham United, and also plays for the Mexico national team.

Franco began his career with Argentine first division side San Lorenzo, playing with the team from 1996 to 2002. Franco then joined Monterrey in the middle of 2002, and made his debut during the 2002 Apertura. Franco was very successful with the Rayados, and led the league in scoring during the 2004 Apertura with 15 goals in 16 games. He was in the team which won the championship in 2003 and achieved runner-up position twice in 2004 and 2005.

Franco spent 3 years in Spain, playing for Villarreal but his spell was plagued with injury. Franco was, however, the scorer of a goal by which Villarreal qualified for the UEFA Cup in a 1-0 victory against Celta Vigo.

In September 2009 Franco signed for West Ham United on a one year contract, becoming the first Mexican to sign for the Hammers. On 25 September it was disclosed that due to West Ham's perilous financial situation following former chairman Björgólfur Guðmundsson's financial collapse, West Ham's CEO Scott Duxbury, and their Sporting and Football Technical Director Gianluca Nani, had part financed the deal from their own salaries. He made his debut for West Ham on 17 October 2009 in a 2-1 away defeat to Stoke City. He scored his first goal for West Ham on 31 October 2009 to put them 1-0 up against Sunderland away from home in a game which finished 2-2. Franco became the third Mexican player to score in the Premier League, Jared Borgetti and Carlos Vela being the first and second respectively.

In 2004 Franco became a naturalized Mexican citizen after settling in Mexico in 2002 and made his debut for the national side in 2005. He played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was a part of the triumphant 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad. During 2010 World Cup qualification, he contributed 2 goals in 6 games.

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