Sergiño Gianni Dest (born November 3, 2000) is a 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 full-back for club

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

, on loan from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Surinamese-American father, he represents the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

Early life

Born in the Netherlands to a Surinamese-American father and a Dutch mother, Dest played for the youth academy of

Almere City Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and hosts home matches ...

until 2012, when he moved to the

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

youth academy. Initially a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, he progressed through the ranks of the club until making the switch to a full-back.

Club career

Ajax

Dest debuted for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

on October 15, 2018, in a 2–1 loss against

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

. Dest impressed over the course of the 2018–19 season, making 18 appearances in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

and tallying one goal and two assists. He also scored one goal and provided one assist in seven appearances in the prestigious

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

. On July 27, 2019, Dest made his debut for the Ajax first team in an official game when he started the

2019 Johan Cruyff Shield The 2019 Johan Cruyff Shield was the 24th edition of the Johan Cruyff Shield ( nl, Johan Cruijff Schaal), an annual Dutch football match played between the winners of the previous season's Eredivisie and KNVB Cup. The match was contested by Ajax, ...

match against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

. Ajax won the match 2–0 and claimed the trophy. On August 10, 2019, Dest debuted in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, replacing

Noussair Mazraoui Noussair Mazraoui ( ar, نُصَيْر مَزرَاوِيّ; born 14 November 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Born in the Netherlands, he represents Morocco at international level. ...

in the 54th minute of Ajax's 5–0 home win against

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2021–22 Eerste Divisie title. Founded in 1925, the club entered the professional Eerste Divisie in 1985. I ...

. He also appeared as a substitute in qualifying matches for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

against PAOK and

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. In September, Dest was officially promoted to the Ajax first-team squad. On September 17, 2019, he made his first start in the Champions League against

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

, a match which Ajax won 3–0. Dest finished his first senior season with 35 appearances in which he scored two goals—both in a

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

fixture against

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fir ...

Barcelona

On October 1, 2020, Dest transferred to

for an initial €21 million fee plus a further €5 million in variables. He signed a five-year contract with the club with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

set at €400 million. Dest made his debut for

on October 4, coming on as a 75th minute substitute for

Jordi Alba Jordi Alba Ramos (born 21 March 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is often regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation. Alba started his ...

in a 1–1 draw against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

. With the appearance, Dest became the first American to appear for Barcelona in La Liga. On October 20, he became the first American to play for Barcelona in a

match. Later that month, Dest set another milestone, becoming the first American to play in

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

; Barcelona fell to a 1–3 defeat to rivals

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

but Dest's performance in the match was praised. On November 24, 2020, Dest scored his first goal for Barcelona in a 4–0 away win over

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

in the Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. In doing so, Dest became the first American to score a professional goal for the club. On March 21, 2021, he scored a brace in a 6–1 away win over

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

Loan to AC Milan

On September 1, 2022, Dest signed for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

on a one-year loan with option to buy for €20 million.

International career

Dest has dual nationality making him eligible to play for either the United States or the Netherlands and ultimately chose to play for the United States' senior national team. Dest has represented the United States at youth and full international level. He played five games in total for the United States under-17 team, including four appearances at the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. He represented the United States under-20 team at the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, where he played four matches. In total, he made 12 appearances and scored one goal for the under-20 team. Dest made his senior debut for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on September 6, 2019, starting and playing 68 minutes in a 3–0 friendly loss against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Dest chose to commit his international future to the United States at the senior level on October 28, 2019. He was included in the United States' 26-man roster for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. During the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, Dest provided the assist for

Christian Pulisic Christian Mate Pulisic (; hr, Pulišić, ; born September 18, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Chelsea and the United States national team. Pulisic is renowned for his d ...

's winning goal in a 1–0 victory over

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, which sent the United States into the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. In that next game against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(his birth nation), he was culpable in leaving too much space for

Daley Blind Daley Blind (; born 9 March 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder, left-back or centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team. He is the son of former Ajax defender and fo ...

to score the second Dutch goal in a 3–1 defeat for the US.

Style of play

Dest combines many key qualities needed in a full-back, including strong attacking prowess, solid defensive play, and being excellent in possession. He has the ability to take players on and his pace is a virtue going forward and defending.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dest goal.''

Honors

Ajax *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Barcelona *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

United States *

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

: 2019–20 Individual * 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Best XI * U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year: 2019 * Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 2020 * IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2020

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Barcelona website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dest, Sergino 2000 births Living people American people of Dutch descent American people of Surinamese descent Sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch people of American descent Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Footballers from Almere Association football fullbacks American soccer players Dutch footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players La Liga players FC Barcelona players A.C. Milan players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2022 FIFA World Cup players