Giovani Dos Santos joins Club America

Club America has made the biggest splash in the Liga MX offseason, signing ex Mexican international Giovani Dos Santos. Gio Dos Santos will be making his Liga MX debut with the team, as he has never played a single game in Mexico, going through the youth teams from Barcelona. Dos Santos was released by his club LA Galaxy earlier this year and hasn’t played at all in 2019, after a spell in MLS that started well but gradually went down. He made the 2018 World Cup squad and scored the only goal in Mexico’s farewell friendly against Scotland at the Estadio Azteca, but his call up was severely criticized by fans and he failed to make an impact in the few minutes he played in the World Cup.

Giovani Dos Santos would be making his debut in what he considers “his” team. While Gio has never played with Las Águilas, it was in America where his father, Zizinho Dos Santos, had the best moments in his career in Mexico. Gio’s older brother, Eder Dos Santos played with America’s Ascenso team Socio Aguila for years but never made it to Club America.

Dos Santos had a successful European career for a Mexican player and is actually most successful national team player (especially in youth teams) in terms of trophies, but has gotten criticisms from fans that say he failed to live up to expectations after winning the 2005 U-17 World Cup and being one of the top prospects from Barcelona. The criticism increased after his spell with the LA Galaxy, which many feel went downhill because of not maintaining a level of professionalism, something rumored from the days in Tottenham Hotspur.

Still, Dos Santos has the talent, and while he will most likely remain unappreciated by the Mexican fanbase, with this fresh start to his career, he certainly has the potential to be one of the top Liga MX players if he is able to get past the problems that hampered his career in the LA Galaxy.