Giovani dos Santos

Giovani dos Santos Ramírez was born in 1989 in Monterrey, Mexico. Currently he plays for Villarreal as an attacking midfielder.

Barcelona’s youth academy graduate, he joined the senior squad for the pre-season tour in 2006. He made his debut in July 2006 against AGF Aarhus and in that match he scored his first goal for the team. In September 2007 dos Santos made his first La Liga appearance, substituting Thierry Henry in a 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao.

In the summer of 2008 dos Santos switched to Tottenham for a fee of €6 million plus additional €5 million depending on his performances at Tottenham. Mostly the Mexican footballer played for the reserve team sometimes appearing for the first squad and in March 2009 he was sent on loan to Ipswich Town, where he played till the end of the season. In January 2010, dos Santos was loaned to Galatasaray and in summer he came back to Spurs. At the end of January 2011 he was loaned to Racing de Santander for the reminder of the season.

Dos Santos signed a four-year deal with RCD Mallorca at the very end of August 2012 and in October he made his first appearance for the club. However, as soon as Mallorca were relegated from Primera, the Mexican was invited to Villarreal.

The footballer represented Mexico at U17, U20, U23 levels and since 2007 he is a part of the senior team. He helped Mexico to win the 2005 U-17 World Championship, the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups and in 2012 he was a part of the Mexico national team winning the Olympic Games.