A… Haitian with Dominican Republic roots who was born in Miami, grew up footballing in Masia, got promoted to Barcelona’s first team, is an international with the US men’s soccer team and has been part of Marseille since last year.

Allegedly the “identity” of the 21-year-old (16.7.2001) Konrad de la Fuente, now owned by Olympiacos on a one-year loan and a four-million-call option, looks like a mosaic of mismatched elements. However, elements that – in an unspecified way – clicked together and shaped his football profile.

His parents pushed him into football

The first part of his biography answers the work of his (eponymous) father, who found himself from Florida in 2011 as an employee of the Haitian consulate in Catalonia.

De la Fuente himself is to a large extent “responsible” for the second, who, after beginning to kick the ball on its endless sandy beaches but also on the closed courts of Miami (indoor football), first found himself in the local academies in Barcelona and from there to the infrastructure departments of the Blaugrana, a teammate of Ansu Fati and Ricky Puig.

His parents believed in their energetic “Kanakari’s” talent from the start and never discouraged him from doing so. On the contrary, they encouraged him.

His mother, Jennifer, was the one who, through a television commercial, suggested that he try football while he showed a fondness for other childhood activities. However, in 2-3 months he had changed his mind. arden

Both were careful to put aside negative recommendations from coaches who said the youngster didn’t have the development specs. To justify their expectations, they saw him gradually develop and catch the interest of a football giant at the age of 12, well before his teens.

The years in Barcelona and Ronaldinho

Masia’s school had an inevitable impact on the formation of his character, competitive and non-competitive. He has confessed that adjusting to a new, unfamiliar environment was not an easy condition as not even his parents, let alone his younger brother Richard, spoke Spanish to communicate easily. However, with the help of the people of Barcelona, ​​he quickly mobilized and entered the dance.

The little one came out of his shell, socialized and adapted his daily routine to it day after day. “Here I opened up more, made friends and grew overall‘ he said in an interview. In any case, he benefited from not being limited to the children’s facilities, but living with his family in an apartment in the city. He felt more comfortable and familiar that way.

Of course he had been making up patterns in his head all along. Ronaldinho was the first, the big one. She was amazed at his tricks, his flying style, the way he handled things.

“I watched him every weekend, I said I want to be like him“. He started trying tricks and feints with and without the ball.

His body type didn’t help him as much as he would have liked, but his stride was conducive to trying to pass opponents after the first unexpected step. Being right-footed but using his (well-trained) left leg with equal ease was another advantage.

He mainly wore “7” and “11”, numbers that indicate extremes. He’s always been like this. Most – second striker in a Revierduo.

From Masia to the Champions League

When Patrick Kluifert joined the club’s org chart as head of the academies in 2019, he learned of De la Fuente’s case and began following it and taking notes. He recognized that quickly”He’s a smart player with a very good one-on-one reaction but he should score more goals“.

With the appreciation of his superiors, the young American has been promoted to the second team of the Catalan club year after year. Among other things, he played in 13 UEFA Youth League games and more than 40 in total in blue and red

At one point, he aspired to be rewarded for his progress, believing that his accomplishments and a parallel call-up to the US junior national team would be enough to earn him permanent men’s team status.

He constantly took part in the training sessions of the “big ones” (Ronald Koeman), appeared in three official matches – two of them in the Champions League (Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencvaros). He was the second American to receive this anointing. But the sum of his minutes on the floor did not even reach half of a game. Something was wrong. He wanted different things and the team gave him different things.

Longoria’s gift to Sampaoli

Leaving – Transfer was a way out. He had to be convinced that she was the only one, that the dream of settling in Barcelona would not come true, at least not at this stage in his career. He should have looked elsewhere for prospects.

He always listened and took advice as he was a disciplined and goal-oriented person. So he realized it was better to leave.

In this case for Marseille, which on June 29, 2021 acquired 50% of its rights for 3 million euros (despite the 50 clause provided for in the renewed 2020 contract).

He had long impressed Valencia president Pablo Longoria and after manager Jorge Sampaoli needed a winger of his qualities, he agreed to a four-year deal.

“I’m ambitious, so leaving Barcelona wasn’t that difficult. My goal is to play there again, but the best way to achieve that is to go and get minutes‘ he told ESPN.

By the end of the year he had counted 22 participations in all competitions, in the finals (and not only) he suffered a lot.

The relationship with the Messi family

De la Fuente flipped the coin and saw the other side. Not always dark, but alternative.

He didn’t stick to the idea of ​​making a career at Barcelona, ​​thanks to many perspective talks with the man who has signed up to represent him from January 2021.

Although the young American seems to be one of the clientele of the KIN Partners office, Rodrigo Messi, Lionel’s older brother, takes care of protecting his image and his rights.

The 41-year-old Argentine, well-known and agent, was the one who – before the association with the said office became official – approached De La Fuente to make up for the loss of Fati (who decided to join gesture by Jorge Mendes) and in from the close relationship they developed in order to reduce as much as possible the “damage” he had suffered.

It didn’t turn out to be very difficult to convince him. His last name was enough as a guarantee. This time, of course, he didn’t tremble because “It was crazy‘ like when she met Leo and asked him to take a picture together

Anyhow, Rodrigo Messi is described as an expert in identifying young “clients” and he has that key role now in Southern Europe – Latin America, but also in the consultative nature he has with those he ultimately chooses to work with decides . One of them is De La Fuente. Possibly the one he (the agent) believes in more than anyone else, the one he seeks the best for.

In that case, the best part seems to be that he joins Olympiacos. She showed more and more that she wanted him and was patient to fend off the other prospects.

De la Fuente came with the goal of being called up to the USA squad and playing at the World Cup in Qatar. It has a term of 2.5 months.