Teen Azkals mainstay Reyes signs with German club Furth

Former Barcelona Academy member Sandro Reyes is returning to Europe. —PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

Sandro Reyes, a former FC Barcelona academy member who has been a mainstay of the Philippine Azkals, is bringing his talents back to Europe.

The 19-year-old midfielder announced on Tuesday that he has signed with SpVgg Greuther Furth, a second division club in Germany, after spending the past two years juggling his act on the domestic front and for various national age group squads.

“[The] a couple of years ago [of] football year has not been the smoothest, but one hour of work every day, faith in the will of God, and of course, positivity and optimism always kept me going through my rough days of football,” a reflective Reyes said.

“This is for the people next to me through everything, and for the young boys and girls in the Philippines to dream big; one big para sa bayan (for the country),” he added.

Reyes’ former Azkals teammate Stephan Schrock played for Greuther’s first team from 2004 to 2012 and 2014 to 2017.

Good trip

He is expected to approach the club’s reserve team – SpVgg Greuther Furth – who play in the fourth division of the German football system where Reyes will try to make an impression and hopefully work his way up to the first team.

The Germany assignment will be another chance for Reyes to shine overseas after he rose to fame with Barcelona’s FCB Escola as a nine-year-old.

He also joined other youth academies in Spain, namely FC Santbola and UE Sants, before returning to the Azkals Development Team in 2021 and Kaya-Iloilo, his latest club.

Reyes also played for the Philippines U-16, U-19 and U-23 squads between 2018 and 2022 before making his senior debut at the Asean Football Federation Mitsubishi Electric Cup, scoring the Azkals’ first goal in a win over Brunei.

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