Giovani "Gio" dos Santos Ramírez
born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who currently plays for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy and the Mexico national team. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger and secondary striker.
Dos Santos began his football career at a very young age, being recruited by Spanish club FC Barcelona and played for their B team until age 18. He made his way up the ranks, eventually playing for the senior squad, making his debut in 2007. That year, he was named by World Soccer Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Most Exciting Teen Footballers".[3] After playing one season, Dos Santos was transferred to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 in search for more playing time. Though he would stay with the club until 2012, his time there was mostly spent away on loan, at Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and Racing de Santander, with varying degrees of success.[4] Spurs eventually sold him to Mallorca in 2012, later selling him to Villarreal a year later.[5]
Dos Santos was a member of the Mexico under-17 team that won the 2005 U17 World Championship held in Peru. He made his debut for the senior national team in a 1–0 victory over Panama on 9 September 2007, and represented El Tri at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. With Mexico, Giovani has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2009, 2011 and 2015, scoring in the 2009 and 2011 finals and winning the MVP award in 2009. He was also a member of Mexico's team that won the gold-medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Club career
Barcelona[edit]
Born in Monterrey, Nuevo León,[2] Dos Santos joined FC Barcelona's academy of La Masia at age 11[6] and played for Barcelona's Juvenil A category, where he helped his team to make a comeback in the league and win the regional title. This title allowed them to participate in the Youth Copa del Rey, where they faced other regional champions, among them their historic arch-rivals, Real Madrid. Dos Santos once again played a significant role during the tournament and helped the team win the national title of the Juvenil A category.
In 2006, Dos Santos was invited on the pre-season tour of Barcelona's senior squad; during a friendly match on 29 July 2006, he scored in his senior team debut game against Danish club AGF Aarhus.[7] On 28 November 2006, Barcelona included Dos Santos in their 23-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.[8]
During the summer of 2007, Dos Santos was once again invited to join Barça's senior squad on their pre-season tour. On 29 August 2007, he received dual nationality[9] and was included in the official first team squad. He made his competitive and league debut on 2 September 2007 (at 18 years and 114 days) during a 3–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao, coming on for Thierry Henry in the 62nd minute.[10]
Dos Santos made his UEFA Champions League debut on 20 September 2007 during a 3–0 home win against Lyon. He came on as a substitute for Xavi in the 79th minute.[11]
On 17 May 2008, Dos Santos scored a hat-trick against Real Murcia, with a final score of 5–3, granting a victory to Barça on the team's last game of the 2007–08 season. It was also the last game Dos Santos played before joining Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham Hotspur[edit]
On 18 June 2008, Dos Santos passed a medical and agreed terms to complete his move to Tottenham from Barcelona. Barcelona reported that the transfer fee was €6 million with an additional €5 million payable depending on appearances for Tottenham.[12][13][14]
The young Mexican was on target twice as Tottenham beat local Spanish side UD Tavernes in an 8–0 thumping on their 2008–09 pre-season tour. He also played in Spurs' other pre-season games including the 5–1 wins over Leyton Orient and Norwich City. He also scored the second goal in the 3–0 win over Borussia Dortmund to help Spurs to make it two wins out of two and take home the Feyenoord Jubileum Tournament trophy. He scored his first competitive goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup on 26 February 2009 against Shakhtar Donetsk.[15] After 12 first team appearances, he was sent on loan to Ipswich Town for the remainder of the season.[6]
Dos Santos returned to Tottenham at the start of the 2009–10 season and his first game of the season came against Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup, in which he provided an assist. He was substituted off, however, due to an ankle injury early on in a League Cup game against Preston North End and managed to make only a substitute appearance in a 1–0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Dos Santos' commitment was questioned by then Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who warned him to stay away from nightclubs and revealed that he was often late for training on Mondays.[16] Redknapp assured Dos Santos, however, that he was still part of his plans at Tottenham.[17]
Dos Santos scored and had an assist in Tottenham's UEFA Europa League group match against Shamrock Rovers on 29 September 2011 at White Hart Lane. On 7 January 2012, he scored a goal and completed an assist for a 3–0 win against Cheltenham Town in the third round of the FA Cup.
Ipswich Town (loan)[edit]
In March 2009, Dos Santos signed on loan at Ipswich Town until the end of the season.[18] He made his debut on 14 March 2009, coming on as a substitute against Reading.[19] He scored his first league goal and the equaliser in the following game against Burnley. He scored his second goal against Bristol City on Easter Monday, a 94th-minute penalty to equalise for Ipswich. He also claimed an assist and a goal from the penalty spot in Ipswich's 3–2 win over local rivals Norwich City a week later.[20] He finished his loan with four goals in eight appearances.[6]
Galatasaray (loan)[edit]
In January 2010, Dos Santos signed for Turkish club Galatasaray on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, with an option to purchase him at the end of that period.[21] The move reunited the player with Frank Rijkaard, his former coach at Barcelona. On 31 January, Dos Santos made his debut coming on as a 58th-minute substitute for Emre Çolak in a Süper Lig game against Denizlispor, a 2–1 victory.[22] He returned to Tottenham in the summer having failed to score for Galatasaray, and stayed there for half a season before being loaned to La Liga club Racing de Santander in January.
Racing Santander (loan)[edit]
On 31 January 2011, Giovani joined La Liga side Racing de Santander on loan until the end of the season from Tottenham.[23] He made his debut for his new club on 5 February 2011 as a substitute against Real Zaragoza, drawing the game 1–1. He scored his first goal as a substitute against Villarreal in the 68th minute on 27 February 2011. Dos Santos scored a brace in a 3–2 win league match over Hércules.
Mallorca[edit]
It was reported that Dos Santos had told Tottenham that he wanted a move in the summer of 2012 or else he would leave on a free transfer during the next transfer window. His agent stated there was interest from Serie A club Internazionale,[24] as well as La Liga clubs such as Sevilla and Atlético Madrid.[25]
On 31 August 2012, Dos Santos signed a four-year deal with Spanish outfit Mallorca, being introduced as their new number 9.[26][27] On 22 October, he made his debut for Mallorca, playing 60 minutes and assisting both goals in a 3–2 away defeat to Sevilla.[28] He played another 60 minutes on 28 October in a 5–0 home defeat to Real Madrid. Dos Santos scored his first goal for Mallorca against Espanyol on 18 January 2013. Though Mallorca would finish the season in 18th place and was relegated, Dos Santos was a mainstay in the squad, amassing 32 total appearances and finished as their top goal-scorer with six goals as well as seven assists.
Villarreal[edit]
On 9 July 2013, Dos Santos completed a much speculated move to recently promoted side Villarreal for a reported €6 million.[29] He finished the 2013–14 season with 11 goals and 8 assists, helping the club finish the season in sixth place.
LA Galaxy[edit]
On 15 July 2015, the Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy announced the signing of Dos Santos as a Designated Player,[30] in a reported US$7 million deal.[31]
On 6 August, Dos Santos made his competitive debut and scored his first competitive goal for the Galaxy in a CONCACAF Champions League fixture against Trinidadian side Central FC. Three days later, he made his MLS debut and scored a goal and provided an assist in the 3–1 win over Seattle Sounders.
In July 2016, Dos Santos was included in the roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game.[32] On 21 July 2016, he came off of the bench during the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open Cup, scoring within three minutes of coming onto the pitch. The goal help the Galaxy start a comeback leading to a 4–2 victory over Seattle Sounders to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in ten years.[33]
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