Daniel Ulises Leyva (born May 5, 2003) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

Club career

Leyva was raised in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

; his father Ulises had played in the youth academy of

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

in Mexico City, but left the sport to pursue a career in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

. Leyva played for the Barcelona USA Academy in

before joining the

Seattle Sounders FC Academy Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

at the age of 13. Leyva was placed on Seattle's under-15 team ahead of the 2017–18 season, but was later moved to the under-17 squad.

Seattle Sounders FC

He made his debut for the Sounders reserve team in the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

(USL) on September 29, 2018, during a 3–1 loss to

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio FC ...

, becoming the second-youngest player in league history. Leyva signed a full USL contract with the team the following month and began training with the senior team during the 2019 preseason, appearing in friendlies against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

and

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. Int ...

. Leyva signed a homegrown contract with Seattle Sounders FC on April 9, 2019, becoming the youngest player in the team's history. He made his first-team debut on June 5, 2019, as a late substitute during an away loss to the Montreal Impact, becoming the third-youngest player in the league's history. Leyva played in 12 matches during the 2022 season and had two assists as a temporary replacement for injured midfielders

João Paulo João Paulo is a Portuguese given name, the equivalent of "John Paul" in English. Notable people with the name include: * João Paulo (footballer, born 1957), João Paulo de Lima Filho, Brazilian football winger * João Paulo (footballer, born 19 ...

and

Obed Vargas Obed Gomez Vargas (born August 5, 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in the United States, he represents the Mexico national team. Club career Born in Anchorage, ...

until they returned mid-season.

Loan to Colorado Rapids

On April 24, 2023, the Sounders loaned Leyva to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

for the rest of the season in exchange for a future

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual Draft (sports), college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada in which MLS clubs take turns selecting from a pool of eligible amateur players. These drafted players usually come f ...

pick and $92,000 in general allocation money.

International career

In October 2019, Leyva was named to the United States squad for the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

in Brazil. Leyva who has only played for U.S. youth national teams, also holds the option to be called up by

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Personal life

Born in the United States, Leyva is of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

descent.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *

CONCACAF U-17 Championship The CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualification is an international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Results In 2009 the tournam ...

Best XI:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leyva, Danny 2003 births Living people Soccer players from Las Vegas American sportspeople of Mexican descent American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Major League Soccer players USL Championship players MLS Next Pro players Tacoma Defiance players Seattle Sounders FC players Colorado Rapids players Homegrown Players (MLS) United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Footballers at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games footballers for the United States CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century American sportsmen