Gilbert Fuentes

Gilbert Fuentes (born February 21, 2002) is an American soccer player who currently plays for the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer.

Career

Youth

Fuentes began playing for the San Jose Earthquakes academy side in 2016, first with his regular age group in the U15s. During the 2017-18 academy season, he moved up to the U19 squad and scored three goals in eight appearances. Previously, he played for Ballistic United SC.

In November 2017, TopDrawerSoccer.com listed Fuentes as the fourth best player and top midfielder in the nation for the class of 2020. He was only one of five players in the country to be given a five-star ranking by the website.

Club

San Jose signed Fuentes to a Homegrown contract on January 26, 2018. He was the team's third Homegrown signing of 2018, following the signings of teammates JT Marcinkowski and Jacob Akanyirige, and at the time of his signing was the club's youngest ever player and the youngest ever athlete for a Bay Area sports team.

Borussia Dortmund had competed with San Jose for Fuentes' signature before he signed his Homegrown contract, due in part to the fact that he works with the same agent as Christian Pulisic.

International

Fuentes made eight appearances for various United States Soccer Federation youth teams in 2017. He was a starter for the U15 squad at the 2017 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship, including in the United States' loss to Mexico in the tournament final, and was called up to the U17s in November for the Men's Nike International Friendlies, and again in January 2018 for the first-ever USYNT Summit Camp.

Statistics

As of 26 Jan 2018