Baba Scouted: Jose Gallegos

Football scouting can be a tough job.

Finding the perfect match for what you are looking for is never easy. Juan Gafas, our shadow-scout, always finds talented kids with dreams during his work. Every week he shares one talent with you, BabaGol readers.

Jose Gallegos

Age: 18

Club: San Antonio FC (USA, 2nd Tier - USL Championship)

Position: Attacking Midfielder, Winger, Centre Midfielder.

Nationality: US, Mexican.

Market Value: 100.000 € (Transfermarkt)

Why follow him? He leads the USL Championship in dribble attempts per game, showing the needed skills and confidence to complete most of these attempts. He is one of the USA’s least talked-about talents. 

Gallegos is a skilful player who’s exciting to watch, with quick feet and excellent ball control, dribbling past opponents with the ball glued to his feet. He can be played into space and then take the defender 1 on 1, though, not a big or pacy player. He does better when getting it between the lines and in tight spaces, where he can use his skills to break free and create chances or threats. 

He contributes to his side’s defensive game to some degree and can get the ball into the opponent's third dribbling from the middle, so no wonder he sometimes plays as a central midfielder. In my opinion, he would be more effective playing further up the field. He does not create as much as he can, but seeing how composed he usually is when getting into the box, I'm sure it is not for lack of ability.   

Considering his age he looks very promising. His coaches need to find the most suitable position for him and polish his end product and final third contribution. These will help him take his game to the next level. I was surprised to see that Gallegos did not play for any of the USA’s national youth teams so far, nor the Mexican ones. His skills on the ball are too good to be ignored, and I am certain there will be more eyes following this talent sooner than later.

Photo via San Antonio FC official Twitter account.