Jonathan Dos Santos

BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan dos Santos Ramírez was born on April 26, 1990 in Monterrey, Mexico. He is a midfielder in Major League Soccer. 

Jonathan was competing along with his brother Giovani in a youth tournament in France, where he was spotted by FC Barcelona scouts who were impressed with what they saw and decided to bring him and his brother to La Masia for a trial.  He made his debut with the first team as a 19-year-old on Oct. 28, 2009, during a match in Spain’s Copa del Rey. He remained with Barcelona through 2014, making 29 appearances in all competitions, including matches played in the UEFA Champions’ League, La Liga SuperCopa and the Copa del Rey.

 In 2014, Dos Santos moved to Villarreal CF in La Liga, where he developed into one of Spain’s standout midfielders. During his time with the club, the Mexican international has made over 120 appearances in all competitions, while scoring seven times and adding eight assists. 

On July 27, 2017, MLS club LA Galaxy announced the signing of Dos Santos as a Designated Player, reuniting him with his brother, Giovani, at the American club. Villarreal sold Jonathan for a fee reportedly around €5–6 million. 

Dos Santos made his debut for the Mexico national team when he started in a friendly against Colombia on September 30, 2009. 

Dos Santos was left out of Mexico's 23-man final squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In May 2011, Dos Santos was left out of the 2011 Gold Cup final squad. On May 24, 2011, he was called up to play the Copa América. On February 29, 2012, Dos Santos returned to the Mexico national team for a friendly against Colombia in Miami, Florida.  In November 2014, after a two-year absence with the national team, Dos Santos was called up by coach Miguel Herrera for the friendly matches against the Netherlands and Belarus on November 12th and 18th.  In 2015, Dos Santos was called up to Mexico's friendly against Ecuador and Paraguay. Jonathan did not start nor play in Ecuador's friendly, but he started in Paraguay's friendly which led to a 1–0 win against them at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. He was called back up for two friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras where both matches were drawn, and he was also called up for the 2015 Gold Cup, starting in every match as Mexico won the tournament. In May 2018 he was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and in June, was named in Mexico's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On March 26, 2019, he scored his first ever senior international goal, opening the scoring in a 4–2 friendly win over Paraguay. In June 2019, he was named in Mexico's 23-man squad for the 2019 Gold Cup. He scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory over the United States in the final. He was subsequently listed in the tournament's Best XI.