Barcelona signs US defender Sergiño Dest

American right back Sergiño Dest completed his move to Barcelona on Thursday after signing a five-year contract.

Barcelona paid Ajax 21 million euros ($24.7 million) plus an additional 5 million euros in add-ons to acquire the speedy defender.

“I have no doubt that he will be a very useful player for Barça,” coach Ronald Koeman said on Wednesday when Dest arrived at the club and passed his medical.

Dest will replace Nelson Semedo after his move to Wolverhampton in England, and give Koeman another option beside Sergi Roberto to play on the right side of the defense.

Dest could be joined by another American, Konrad de la Fuente, who is in Barcelona’s reserve team. Koeman gave him playing time during the preseason and praised his performances.

The 19-year-old Dest has a Surinamese-American father and Dutch mother and chose to play for the U.S. instead of the Netherlands.

Dest committed to the U.S. team last October, a month after making his senior debut for the Americans. He still had the ability under FIFA’s rules to change his affiliation to the Dutch team as he had played only in friendlies against Mexico and Uruguay.

Dest tied his international future to the U.S. on Nov. 16, helping the team reach the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals by beating Canada 4-1. He had already played for the U.S. at the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups.

“I’ve spoken to Sergiño about the national team, because he had the possibility to play for Holland or America,” Koeman said. “But finally a decision has to be (made) by the player, because that’s his feeling from inside … and he finally decided to play for the American national team, no problem. That’s good for American soccer.”

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports