Dennis te Kloese and Uriel Antuna got to know each other pretty well during their time together in the Mexican youth national team system.
Over the better part of a decade with the Mexican Football Federation, te Kloese worked first as the director of youth teams and later the director of national teams. Antuna, now 21, was one of the country's most highly-rated prospects. So their paths crossed often, occasionally sharing long plane rides to the other side of the world. Te Kloese gained the trust of Antuna's parents, too.
Though he'd made just one senior appearance for Santos Laguna in Liga MX, Antuna turned heads at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea and was bought by Manchester City, then loaned to FC Groningen in the Netherlands. In a new country, with a new language and culture for a player with minimal professional experience, it didn't go perfectly according to plan.
A former Mexico youth international playing in the Netherlands? The Dutch-born te Kloese was following every step of the way.
“I, like I do with all the players I like, try to keep track of everything," te Kloese told MLSsoccer.com last week. "In Uriel’s case, when he went to Manchester City, through my network I was able to speak to the right people. Then he went to Holland — which is easy! At least I can read the news in my native language.”
Last winter, Antuna needed a change to kick-start his young career. In stepped te Kloese and the Galaxy.
Dennis te Kloese and Uriel Antuna at Antuna's signing | LA Galaxy
“Everything came together with knowing him, his parents and everyone at the table," te Kloese explained. "He’s a talented player. He’ll grow into something very worthwhile. Little by little, I think that was probably taking advantage of the knowledge that I have and the network I use.”
It's just one of the ways that te Kloese, his connections and experience have already proved so valuable to the Galaxy, less than half a year after his hiring. Antuna is not a unique case for te Kloese and it's a well the club plan to return to in the future.
“Sometimes you have to wait for the right moment or right opportunity," te Kloese said. "But filling out shadow teams, keeping track of guys and bouncing ideas off people I work with. With a high caliber coaching staff, it’s very enjoyable. If there’s something in Mexico, if there’s something we can take advantage of, it’ll be good. But I’m not sure it’s something that would be very frequent, it’s not an easy market. It needs to be the right fit. It’s something extra that we’ll have, maybe take advantage of it in another moment.”
Te Kloese has fostered innumerable and invaluable relationships while working in Mexico, where he also served as Chivas de Guadalajara’s scouting director (and spent time with that club's MLS affiliate, Chivas USA), and at Tigres UANL's academy. It's part of why he was such an attractive candidate to the Galaxy, who were looking to vastly improve their own youth setup in the talent-dense territory of southern California.
“[We're] establishing who we are and who we want to be," president Chris Klein said, pointing to a unified vision from the first team through the academy. "All of that coming together has laid the groundwork for us to build. We have the commitment from ownership and the ambition to continue to do bigger and better things.”
The Galaxy aren't only focused on Mexico, of course. They are quickly extending their worldwide reach with their new leadership.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto | USA Today Sports
On deadline day of the Primary Transfer Window, the Galaxy signed Favio Alvarez, a 26-year-old Argentinian winger. Alvarez had heretofore spent his entire career in his native country.
That's Guillermo Barros Schelotto territory.
“Guillermo has outstanding contacts in Argentina," te Kloese. "The players that he’s evaluated as a coach is very valuable. The assessment of knowing players personally … is something extra he has, not only judging the technical abilities. Not only having a good eye, good knowledge and every contact that there is available in those surroundings, he’s known a lot of players’ personalities and circumstances. That makes it interesting for us.”
It's part of the global recruitment that te Kloese has helped lead since joining the club. He has overseen deals involving players arriving from Uruguay, Mexico, Italy, England and the academy, as well as the sale of Ola Kamara to China.
The Kamara deal is one te Kloese is particularly proud of, as it was mutually beneficial to club and player, plus it allowed the Galaxy funds and opportunity to bring in both Joe Corona and Giancarlo Gonzalez.
“Sometimes you have to be a little bit in the right moment, the right time," te Kloese said. "For example, for us to be able to sell Kamara for everyone involved was a positive thing. Not only for us, but for Ola: having a financial opportunity for his family to secure his future is difficult to pass up. At the end, it opened some salary cap room, roster space and doing a few things that might have done later but were accelerated.”
Te Kloese confirmed that Corona and Gonzalez were the deals brought forward as a result.
Te Kloese and Schelotto scout talent at the MLS Combine | LA Galaxy
On top of the success in the transfer market, the Galaxy are ushering in a new era of opportunity from right in their backyard with their academy. Efrain Alvarez, Julian Araujo, Diedie Traore and other players who have come through the academy or LA Galaxy II, their USL Championship affiliate, have gotten chances this season with the first team.
That's down to the culture te Kloese is helping to foster and Schelotto is executing.
“With creating clear opportunities if you’re good enough, that you’ll go into the first team," te Kloese said. "It’s excellent. It shows the courage of a coach who steps into a new league, a new team where the eyes are upon him that he actually plays some young guys. For a club, it has a great value. It has a great value that young guys actually respond.”
At the U-17 Concacaf Championship, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the U-17 World Cup, the Galaxy have five representatives. They lead the United States side with three, as well as one each with Mexico and Guatemala.
“It will only get bigger," Klein said. "We should always have players in the national team programs representing our club on the world stage.”
Early returns on the investments made in the first few months of the te Kloese era in LA look promising. The club are off to a strong start, the deals they executed in the Primary Transfer Window are looking shrewd and academy kids are getting more chances than ever. The upward trend has not yet reached its apex, either.
“It’s changed a lot over the last few years," te Kloese said. “The storm of evolution of soccer in the United States and MLS, going forward with the player quality, the people who manage the clubs, has improved MLS and soccer.”
