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Alex Mendez signs with Ajax

U.S. Under-20 men’s national team midfielder Alex Mendez has signed with reigning Dutch champions Ajax on Tuesday, signing a three-year contract at Johan Cruyff Arena.

Mendez joins U.S. Under-20 teammate Sergino Dest, who recently made his first-team debut for Ajax in its Dutch Super Cup win vs. PSV Eindhoven.

The former Los Angeles Galaxy and SC Freiburg youth player had made his professional debut back in 2017 for Galaxy II of the USL Championship. Since that time, Mendez signed a pro contract with Bundesliga outfit Freiburg last October, but never suited up for the senior or reserve teams.

Mendez has represented both the U.S. U-20 and U-17 national teams throughout his young career, however, the California native remains eligible to play for Mexico as he is yet to suit up for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Now at Ajax, Mendez joins Dest, who has made quite the impression this preseason for the 34-time Eredivisie champions. Dest has figured into the Ajax squad significantly this summer, including a start against rivals PSV Eindhoven in their Johan Cruyff Shield victory.

Comments

  1. Freiburg signed him for free and move him on after seven months, haven’t seen the fee yet but seems like pretty good business.

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  2. At his age it’s a good place to go and Holland is underrated as a NT destination eg Bradley Beasley Stewart Jozy.

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  3. Mendez had close to 15 matches and scored a handful of goals for Freiburg’s U-19’s. Great move for him . I think Mendez’s ability to move the ball into attacking areas while also getting himself into scoring positions will fit the Ajax style perfectly. I suspect he’ll start out with Jong Ajax in the 2nd division. That’s a perfect place for him to cut his teeth and learn the Ajax way.

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    • Kik Perie also gets little mention- he’s always trended towards the Dutch NT, but I don’t think he has much chance of cracking their loaded back line. We now have four US-eligible U-20 players at perhaps the best place for youth development in the world (Dortmund is up there as well). Exciting times.

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      • I understood we talked to Pierie and Siebatcheu (Ligue 1) about joining up. Not sure what their responses are.

    • Sadly, Pynadath has no future in soccer. He won’t make any actual appearances and will likely leave the sport of soccer entirely soon. He has had no development growth, nor the desire to actually play pro soccer. He’s just a talented and happy guy who will have an amazing story to tell folks years down the line.

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