When players get signed to a Major League Soccer club’s second team, they seldom draw national headlines.
But things were a bit different earlier this week when Galaxy II announced that they signed Mexico U-16 national team midfielder Alex Alcala after he joined the LA Galaxy Academy last year.
The California native was even dubbed a “teenage prodigy” by ESPN, having trained at English club Manchester City, Mexico’s Pachuca and Barcelona's famed La Masia academy. Alcala debuted for Mexico’s U-15 national team in 2018 at 12 years old, playing under now-LA Galaxy director of methodology and development Juan Carlos Ortega.
"Alex is a young talent who we are pleased will develop in a professional environment," LA Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese said in a release. "We believe that the structure and resources that we will provide him will allow him to continue to grow as both a player and a person. We look forward to Alex representing our club."
Alcala also has quite the social media following, with some of his at-home training videos generating nearly 250,000 views on Instagram. Several highlight videos on YouTube also have hundreds of thousands of views, contributing to the rising Mexican-American talent’s profile.
A previous report from Tom Marshall in ESPN said that Manchester City have a purchase option to acquire the midfielder when he turns 18 years old. Alcala himself has boosted a tweet reporting as much.
The years ahead should shed light on if Alcala realizes his potential, as he’s only 15 and listed as 5-foot-1. But there’s clearly excitement behind Los Dos adding a prospect of his caliber, with his international profile growing as well.
