Giovani Dos Santos is one of many talented players who never lived up to the enormous expectations placed on them. When he arrived in LA Masia at a very young age, so much was expected of the natural, left-footed, wonderful talent that the Catalan media called him “Next Ronaldinho”, and fans saw him as the successor to the legendary Brazilian playmaker.
So many questions were raised as to why he never achieved the performance he was expected to deliver. Some say he was not up to the pressure of being compared to one of the greatest players the football world has ever seen, despite sharing a dressing room with the Brazilian superstar. In addition, his seemingly endless injury blocked his chance to perform the feat of replacing the Brazilian as many had expected.
Brief Bio Of Giovani Dos Santos
Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramirez, usually known as Giovani Dos Santos, was born on 11 May 1989 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, the son of former professional footballer Geraldo Dos Santos and ex-footballer Liliana Ramirez. Giovani Dos Santos is a professional footballer and is currently under contract with the United States-based football club L.A. Galaxy. He grew up in a football-loving family. His mother is a big fan of the sport, while his father is an ex-footballer himself and was popularly known as Zizinho.
Zizinho and his wife Liliana Ramirez have 3 sons together. His influence as a football lover and ex-player rubbed off on all 3 of his sons, as each of them also became professional footballers.
Giovani Dos Santos Club Career
Giovani Dos Santos got a football fever from his father, and it is said that he is even more talented than his father. He was the first of his family to play professional football in the most treasured European region when Barcelona signed up at the young age of 11, and he started playing football at a very early age when his local team, Monterrey FC, started playing. The Scouts of the Barcelona Youth Academy came to the city in search of young talent and were never in doubt when they discovered Giovani, whom they referred to as the new Ronaldinho. In 2002 he joined the Barcelona youth structure La Masia.
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Giovani made it from the youth category to the Barcelona B team in 2006. He made 27 appearances for the reserve team, which earned his name with 6 goals and remarkable performance. During his time in the reserve team, he temporarily joined the senior national team, where he did a number of training and pre-season tours, which earned him an early debut in the main team of Barcelona. On 29 July 2006, he made his debut as a professional footballer for Barcelona in a pre-season friendly against AGF Aarhus and marked his debut by scoring in his dream debut for Barcelona.
His spectacular performance with the Barcelona B team did not go unnoticed, as a year later he was promoted to the Barcelona main team, where he finally got the chance to impress his employers and delight the fans. In the 2007/2008 Spanish La Liga season, Giovani was officially named as a first-team player for Barcelona and was inducted into the squad to compete for the Spanish Primera Division trophy. On 29 August 2007, he was awarded Spanish citizenship, which gave him dual citizenship of a Mexican and a Spaniard.
His first season in the professional league was not an outstanding season, as he was unable to wear a star jersey in a star-studded Barcelona team that included big names such as Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho, and others. The then 17-year-old made 28 appearances for Barcelona’s first team, playing most of his matches from the bench. He made 10 starts, 18 came from the bench, and was withdrawn 7 times. He scored 3 goals from his Barcelona season and these goals were scored on Matchday 38, the last round of the league games. His impressive hat-trick helped Barcelona to a 5-3 win over stubborn Real Murcia on 17 May 2008, but the win was not enough to secure Barcelona the league title, they lost to eternal arch-rivals Real Madrid with a losing head-to-head record.
Dos Santos needed more playing time and agreed to a move to English first division side Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around €11 million – €6 million paid in advance and a further €5 million paid on account of his performance and appearance for the London-based team. However, Giovani spent most of his time at Tottenham either on the bench or playing for the reserve team. Halfway through the 2008/2009 season, he was loaned to the city of Ipswich, where he played for the rest of the season. He made 8 appearances for the championship team, started in 6 games, and came off the bench as a substitute on 2 occasions, scoring 4 goals. However, at the beginning of the season, before he made the move to Ipswich, he played for Tottenham six times, only started twice, and did not score a goal in the league.
On 26 February 2009 he scored his first goal for Tottenham in the UEFA Cup against Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, but his time with the club was overshadowed by injuries and nightclub allegations, and he was allowed to join Galatasaray and Racing Santander on loan.
On 31 August 2012, his final withdrawal to Spain was secured as he came to Mallorca under a four-year contract. He played one season in Mallorca and played 2395 minutes for the Spanish teams in the league, scoring 6 league goals from 29 outings.
His long announced move to Villarreal was signed on 9 July 2013 for a fee of 6 million euros. He played two seasons for the Yellow Submarines, with a total of 57 appearances in the league in the two seasons he spent with the Yellow Submarines, scoring 12 league goals.
And on 15 July 2015, he sealed a transfer to his current club in Major League Soccer, L.A. Galaxy, for a reported fee of €6.35 million. His contract with the club runs until 31 December 2019.
National Team Career And Awards
Giovani was the star of the Mexican U-17 national team that won the U-17 World Championship in 2005 and was the second-best player of the tournament to win the Adidas Silver Ball.
At the beginning of 2001, his Mexican U-12 side finished fifth in the Danone Nations Cup, in which 40 teams participated, with Giovani Dos Santos becoming the top scorer and winning the Golden Boot.
He made his senior national team debut for Mexico on 9 September 2007 in a friendly match against a North American team, Panama. He scored his first goal for the national team against Venezuela on 24 June 2009, finished the game with a brace, and was also awarded the Best Player prize.
He won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico in 2009, 2011, and 2015. He was also a member of the Mexican team that won the gold medal in the men’s category at the London 2012 Olympics and beat the USA in the final.
Brother
Giovani Dos Santos has two brothers who are also professional footballers like him. His older brother, Eder Dos Santos, a retired footballer born on 2 January 1984, played as a defensive midfielder for the Mexican Primers Division – a Socio Auila team from 2003-2008 – during his playing days.
His younger brother Jonathan Dos Santos is also known as Giovani. He was also recruited by the youth department in Barcelona. He was born on 26 April 1990 and plays as a central midfielder. He is also supported by Shine Entertainment Media. He was promoted to the main team by the Barcelona youth team in 2012. In 2014 he moved to Villarreal for a fee of 1.5 million euros and currently plays alongside his brother at L.A. Galaxy. He also plays in the Mexican national team alongside his brother.
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Salary and Net Worth
Having played football at a professional level for almost two decades, his highest market value is said to have been EUR 12 million, and his current market value is EUR 2,75 million. The professional footballer is worth EUR 10 million. He currently plays for MLS club L.A. Galaxy and earns $3.75 million a year.
Height
Giovani is a left-footed player by nature. He works best as an offensive midfielder or as a secondary striker on the field and can also play from both wings. Dos Santos is 1.78 m (5’10”) tall. His bodyweight is 71 kg and he is coached by Shine Entertainment.
Giovani Dos Santos Girlfriend
Since the sex tape blackmail, which involved Giovani Dos Santos, his ex-girlfriend Belinda and Eiza Gonzalez, Giovani has kept his dating life out of the limelight.