Teen Azkals mainstay Reyes signs with German club Furth

Former Barcelona Academy member Sandro Reyes is headed back to Europe. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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

The 19-year-old midfielder on Tuesday announced 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] past couple [of] football years haven’t been the smoothest, but hours of work every single day, faith in God’s will, and of course, positivity and optimism always in between kept me going through my rough football days,” a reflective Reyes said.

“This one is for those beside me through it all, 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 main squad from 2004 to 2012 and 2014 to 2017.

Well-traveled

He is likely to be heading toward the club’s reserve team—SpVgg Greuther Furth—that plays in the fourth division of the German football system where Reyes will try to make an impression and hopefully move up on the main squad.

The Germany stint will be another chance for Reyes to shine overseas after he was best known for taking part in Barcelona’s FCB Escola at the age of nine.

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

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