Charlotte FC’s first player Sergio Ruiz is ready for a new city and opportunity in MLS
Sergio Ruiz began his introduction to Charlotte Football Club’s beat reporters with an apology.
“First of all, sorry for my English,” said Ruiz, a native of northern Spain. “I’m trying to improve, so, sorry.”
The central midfielder from the Spanish Second Division signed with Charlotte FC three weeks ago as the expansion club’s first player. Then, he received an unexpected additional amount of time to practice his English before making the transition to the United States. The week after Ruiz signed with Charlotte, Major League Soccer announced the club’s inaugural season would be delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ruiz will be loaned to a different, likely international, soccer club, which will pay his wages until Charlotte’s team begins training together before the start of the 2022 season.
“For me, it’s not a problem to play with (another) team before I go to Charlotte,” Ruiz said. He added that, at 25-years-old, he is young and the extra year gives him an opportunity to further develop as a player before joining MLS.
Charlotte FC sporting director Zoran Krneta said negotiations are ongoing with interested parties and that the team is primarily considering clubs in Spain and England to serve as Ruiz’s temporary home. The number of interested clubs has doubled since Ruiz signed with Charlotte, team president Tom Glick said last week.
“We are just waiting to find the best club in terms of the coach who wants him the most, therefore, he will play the most,” Krneta said. “And also the club that will suit Sergio’s style of play as well.”
Krneta described Ruiz as a dynamic midfielder with the ability to play “anything across the midfield three.” As the club’s first player, Ruiz is also considered a “building block” of the future club and will help fill out the “spine” of the team, which will be developed in the coming weeks, Krneta said.
Once the MLS Is Back Tournament ends, the league’s secondary transfer window opens August 12 and the club is expected to make its next wave of signings. The window closes October 29.
“The spine of the team would be a central defender, a defensive central midfielder, maybe offensive midfielder and a striker,” Krneta said. “So this is what potentially we might be looking at adding on in this coming window.”
The season delay has added an additional element when it comes to recruiting and signing players, Krneta said. As is the case with Ruiz, the team must also now consider which clubs it would like its players to compete with until the team is able to begin practicing together before the 2022 launch. Krneta said ideally they are looking to loan players to clubs in Europe, rather than within MLS, due to certain loan restrictions in the league.
Ruiz could also end up staying in Spain. He previously captained Racing Santander in the Spanish Second Division, which was part of the draw to signing him, Krneta said. He is a player with experience competing in a strong league.
“Spanish Segunda and English Championship are two of, by far, the strongest second divisions in the world,” Kneta said. “And I would probably put them in front of most of the Belgium and Holland top leagues.”
In addition to experience in a competitive league and his potential for growth, Krneta said Ruiz is a leader both on and off the pitch, which is what drew the team to scouting him for “months and months” before eventually signing him. Ruiz spent the last three seasons with Racing Santander’s first team after graduating from the reserve team in 2016.
“We really want to bring players who kind of fit the community, Charlotte, our future team (and) what we want to create,” Krneta said.
Krneta also mentioned that while the future team’s playing style would be left open for the head coach to develop, Charlotte FC’s brand of play would be “offensive” and “high-pressure.”
Ruiz said he’s looking forward to the transition to both Charlotte and MLS. He said he was sold after speaking with Krneta and Glick about the opportunity to play for a brand new team in a growing city, and that he feels he’s a good age to leave Spain for a new experience.
“I know (Charlotte) is a growing city, a city which loves sports, basketball, soccer,” Ruiz said. “I really think that it’s a perfect city for me, for my life.”
Ruiz also mentioned successful Spanish-speaking players such as Carlos Vela and Javier Hernández, also called Chicharito, who have made the transition to MLS.
“More and more top players are going to play (for) MLS,” Ruiz said. “It’s an all around the world league now, so for me, it’s a good opportunity and I have to catch the opportunity.”
Ruiz, who began his media session in English, ended it in Spanish, with a thought that highlighted the possibility that MLS, including Charlotte’s new team, could see a lot more players from Spain and Latin America in the coming years.
“(MLS) is a league that’s growing, that is competitive (and) that people like,” Ruiz said in Spanish.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
