Pelé's life before being a star: his first job and his extremely low first salary in Santos

Before his bright days in soccer as Pelé, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was living a more common life, despite it was full of struggles and early challenges. The years prior to becoming a sport’s legend, the Brazilian was raised seeing how his father suffered an early retirement from the field due to an injury, so little Pelé’s career was already seeing ghosts.

After his father’s tough experience, his mother did not want Pelé to get involved in soccer. The young boy was already working, his father started cleaning toilettes and suffering serious financial struggles. João Ramos do Nascimento did not want his son to suffer, but Edson just wanted to play soccer.

Instead, he had to work as a shoemaker. Until things started to change. Brazil’s soccer legend Waldemar was the key. He played in Sao Paulo, Flamengo, Botafogo and Argentina’s side San Lorenzo, when he saw the young Edson Arantes do Nascimento and promised: “This kid will be the best player in the world”. He embraced him and took him from his town Baurú to his soccer life… and to the top of the very top.

Waldemar introduced Pelé to Santos’ board when he was just 15 years old. He only dreamed with goals. He was offered a trial test and it went on well. When he started playing, he signed a contract for 6,000 Cruzeiros, the currency Brazil would use almost uninterruptedly from 1942 to 1994, when it was replaced by nowadays’ Real. By 1955 that figure equaled $12.