John David Klein III (born November 7, 1999) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for MLS side

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional men's soccer club based in St. Louis, Missouri. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference and will join in 2023 as an expans ...

Career

Youth, college, and amateur

Born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, Klein attended Rock Bridge High School in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

, where he played one year of high school soccer and was named the district's Player of the Year. He later joined the academy teams in

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

and

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. With the latter, Klein signed a USL academy contract with Portland Timbers 2 but never made an appearance for the team. In 2018, Klein attended

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

. Across five seasons with the Billikens, including a truncated season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Klein made 88 appearances, scoring 29 goals and tallying 27 assists. Klein won numerous awards and accolades during his college career, including A-10 Conference Freshman of the Year in 2018, All-Conference in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 and the A-10 co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. While at college, Klein also spent various spells with clubs competing in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

;

Chicago FC United Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer. Yout ...

in 2019, St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC in 2021, and Kaw Valley FC in 2022.

Professional

Following college, Klein was selected 9th overall in

MASL The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

draft by Kansas City Comets. One day later on December 21, 2022, Klein was selected 30th overall in the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but will retain the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted ...

. On February 28, 2023, Klein signed a professional contract with the club's MLS Next Pro side St. Louis City 2, a club he had trained with the previous year. On May 19, 2023, Klein signed a short-term deal to join the club's

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

roster for their upcoming fixture against

. On June 22, 2024, St. Louis Klein's move to the first team permanent.

Personal

He is the son of former professional soccer player and current coach John Klein.

References

External links

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John Klein
at Saint Louis University Athletics 1999 births Living people American men's soccer players Chicago FC United players Major League Soccer players Men's association football midfielders MLS Next Pro players Sportspeople from Columbia, Missouri Portland Timbers 2 players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Soccer players from Missouri St. Louis City SC players St. Louis City 2 players USL League Two players {{US-footy-midfielder-stub