¡Hola Carlos

Augsburg’s sixth summer signing, Ecuadorian Carlos Gruezo has joined FCA on a five year contract. The 24-year-old defensive midfielder brings Bundesliga experience with him to his new home. Between 2014 and 2016, Carlos Gruezo was under contract at VfB Stuttgart. Now, he is returning to prove himself in Germany’s top flight once again: "I am happy that Augsburg are giving me the chance to have a second spell in the Bundesliga," he said. His career began in South America, as part of LDU Quito’s U20 setup, before he switched to Independiente del Valle. At Independiente, Carlos made his way through the youth teams and into the first team by 2011. Just one year later, Gruezo moved to Barcelona SC Guayaquil, making 77 appearances in the Ecuadorian first division and winning the league with Barcelona SC Guayaquil in 2012. His first steps in the Bundesliga In 2014, Carlos Gruezo left his home country and moved to Germany, making the leap to Bundesliga football with VfB Stuttgart, for whom he made 18 league appearances and one in the DFB-Pokal. He scored his one and, so far, only Bundesliga goal against SC Freiburg. Two years down the line, his Bundesliga adventure was over for the time being – he left Germany for the USA and hung his hat in Dallas. In the MLS, Gruezo played 114 games for FC Dallas, scoring five goals. In his first year at the Texan club, FC Dallas beat the New England Revolution to win the US Open Cup – the USA equivalent of the DFB-Pokal. Since 2014, Carlos Gruezo has been part of the Ecuadorian national team, competing at the World Cup finals in Brazil. He featured in both his country’s defeat to Switzerland and their victory over Honduras. As of 2019/20, the Ecuador international will be donning the red white and green of Augsburg. Hola Carlos, or should we say: Servus!