Aaron Cervantes has become the latest U.S. Youth National Team player to take his talents overseas.
Scottish Premiership side Rangers signed Cervantes from USL club Orange County SC. He will remain with Orange County until January 2021, before joining up on loan to another European club from Rangers.
“We are delighted to welcome Aaron to Rangers and have enjoyed watching his excellent progress with our partners at Orange County,” Rangers head of academy Craig Mulholland said. “He has been exposed at an early age to first team football and will now continue this with a loan in Europe as part of this creative agreement.”
“If these young talents show outstanding potential, then they can participate in a jointly developed plan to reach one of Europe’s biggest clubs making Orange County one of the most attractive options for the best young players in the US.”
Cervantes, a former L.A. Galaxy youth player, became the youngest player in Orange County history to sign for the club at 15-years-old. The current 18-year-old had made 17 combined league appearances for the USL club over the past two seasons and has also represented the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team.
He represented the Under-17’s at the FIFA U-17 World Cup and overall has made four appearances internationally.
“There are so many exciting player development facets to the partnership and this signing is only that start of some of these innovative concepts being realized,” Mulholland said. “We wish Aaron well in his Rangers career and we know he is looking forward to working with our excellent goalkeeping and loans staff to take the next steps in his journey.”
Cervantes joins Ian Harkes, Cameron Harper, and Dillon Powers as the lone Americans in the Premiership. He joins Maurice Edu, DeMarcus Beasley, and Alejandro Bedoya as the latest American to play for the Glasgow side.
“I want to thank Orange County SC for taking care of me since day one, without their top professional environment, none of this would have happened,” said Cervantes. “I am just humbled to have this opportunity at Rangers F.C., which is a massive club, and I am ready to go to work and show what I can do.”
Rangers currently leads the Premiership with 26 points, one point better than Old Firm rivals and nine-time defending champions Celtic.
without a permit this strikes me as the dom cervi track.
You are wrong fam is good, and will get playing time, No visa is currently required and you have the right to live and work in Scotland and the rest of the UK. If you want to register your presence in Scotland more formally, you can apply for an EEA residence card, or even for permanent residence.
i didn’t think cervi sucked, i thought he put himself in an impossible club situation. on a UK team without a permit. re cervantes, the article says, “will now continue this with a loan in Europe as part of this creative agreement.” so, basically only nominally signed to rangers then loaned out. i don’t see how a development player’s best situation is “on loan.” i don’t think it would be an awful idea at his age to sign with a european academy and learn. he’s probably not going to start anyway. but loan deals are treating you like a mature first team commodity when you’re 18. he isn’t a regular starter in USL. he is not positioned like steffen where if you just give him 5 seconds we can get him permitted and he can cash in on the rangers bit.