To say that Sergiño Dest made a huge splash on the American soccer scene is an understatement, in one year he went from a potential U.S. Men’s National team prospect to a possible Barcelona defender with only 21professional games under his belt.
It was not an easy road for U.S. Soccer to lock up the Ajax defender, he came very close on deciding to play for the Netherlands over the United States, but when he announced his decision to play for the U.S. it immediately elevated the USMNT’s right-back position and Dest became another young American playing fora top club in Europe, joining the likes of Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, and Weston McKennie.
Debuting for Ajax last year, Sergiño Dest immediately caught the eye of the European champions, Bayern Munich, and near the end of last season it looked all but set that Dest was Germany bound. In the last few days, and according to sources, by petition of Ronald Koeman, Dest may be Barcelona bound for a record 20 million euro transfer fee.
Sergiño Dest background and parents
Sergiño Dest was born and raised in Almere, Netherlands and his parents are an American serviceman father and a Dutch mother. He did not travel to the United States until 2014 when he went to visit his father’s hometown in New York City. He speaks English with a heavy Dutch accent and began playing soccer at the youth level for Almere City in 2012 before moving to the Ajax youth system.
Sergiño Dest at Ajax FC
Dest’stime in Ajax went lighting fast, he joined their youth academy in 2012, and in 2018 he began playing for Jong Ajax, the club’s reserve side. Dest impressed coaches during his lone season with Jong Ajax and was moved up to the senior team in July of 2019. On August 10th, 2019 he made his debut for Ajax in a 2-0 win over PSV in the 2019 Johan Cruyff Shield. In total, he has only played 21 games for the Dutch giants winning the Johan Cruyff Shield and even though Ajax finished first, last season, due to the pandemic, they were not crowned as champions, rather only qualifying to the Champions League.
Sergiño Destplaying for the USMNT
While Dest may have caught many USMNT fans by surprise, he had already played for various U.S. youth teams since 2016. Former US under-20 assistant coach Dave van den Bergh, asked Ajax if there was any player in the youth system with an American passport, and he was pointed in the direction of Dest. Dest had played for the Netherlands in various youth squads, but did not play in any major youth tournaments. When van den Berghapproached Dest to play for the U.S. youth teams he immediately jumped on the opportunity.
While Dest started gaining minutes for Ajax there were rumblings that future Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman was tempting Dest to play for the Netherlands. The U.S. Soccer Federation and U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter, moved fast to CAP tie Dest as soon as possible. After a few backs and fourths, Dest debuted for the U.S. in a friendly against Mexico. He would be officially cap tied to the U.S. in October of 2019.
Dest and his move to Barcelona
Barcelona seemed to have beat out Bayern Munich, as reports claim that the Catalan club will pay 20 million Euros for the American defender. Bayern Munich had made a tentative offer for Dest and seemed set to sign the player but in the last 48 hours, Barcelona and especially Ronald Koeman, want to bringthe player to the club. According to sources, all that is needed for the transfer to be official is that the two clubs agree on a payment structure.