Jonathan Esparza calls himself an adventurous sort, and the next chapter in his own adventure will soon have him in Winnipeg with Valour FC.

Winnipeg’s Canadian Premier League club announced the signing of the 22-year-old American defender – who racked up 1596 minutes playing with the Chattanooga Red Wolves of USL League One in 2021 and has experience playing in Mexico – on Friday.

“I don’t know any of the players on Valour or in the league and I didn’t know Coach Dos Santos until my agent reached out to say they were interested,” began Esparza in a chat with valourfootball.club from his home base in Chula Vista, California – about 30 minutes from Tijuana and the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It was my agent who told me about the new league in Canada. I was iffy about it at the beginning and then he started sharing more information with me about it being a new league that is going to keep on rising.

“It just sounded like a great opportunity for me and my career. What attracted me was the football club and the fact the CPL is new, it’s upcoming and it’s rising as a league. I wanted to take my journey to a new team and a new league.

“I’m an adventurous type of guy. I’ve played in Mexico before and jumped around from team to team and visit different cities. I then made the jump to the US and now to Canada. I’ve been to quite a few places. I love the adventure of it.

“The coaches there told me some great things about Winnipeg,” added Esparza. “And, yes, they told me to bring a jacket. They told me to bring a lot of jackets.”

Esparza has experience in Mexico’s Liga MX, having been loaned from Club Tijuana to Celaya FC of Copa MX in 2019-20. He was also loaned to Oaxaca of Ascenco MX in 2018 and was named to the U.S. U-18 Men’s National team roster for the 2017 Slovakia Cup.

His name first appeared on Valour’s radar screen this winter as Dos Santos and the coaching staff searched for a player who could be a consistent piece a left back, a spot which has seen a revolving door of names used there over the past three seasons.

“The club never really found stability in the position and that’s because it’s not easy to find good ones,” said Dos Santos. “We always knew we needed a left back going into 2022 and that’s when Jonathan’s name came to us. We started watching him and we liked his pedigree as a kid who played in Mexico and was developed at a good academy with a good club in Tijuana and on loan with Celaya, and then played all of last season as a starter for a USL1 team that did very well in the standings.

“We watched a lot of his clips and felt he was a player that comes with little risk, but the rewards could be very high towards the team needs and what his game to bring to us.

“It’s difficult to find good left backs around the world, so when we look at one and see he has the tools we want, we have to try and get him.

“Hopefully we’ve got ourselves a good one and he can be around for a few years.”

Esparza hopes to be in Winnipeg in the next couple of weeks or so as Valour hopes to begin training in mid-February. It’ll be a long trek from Chula Vista but, again, just part of the next adventure in his life.

“Funny story, but I didn’t even start out playing soccer,” said Esparza. “I started when I was about seven. But my dad was always a baseball player, and my mom was a softball player. They love baseball. My dad started me in baseball, and I didn’t like it. He moved me to football, and I didn’t like it. Then one of my uncles introduced me to soccer and I loved it.

“Now my parents only want to talk about soccer. No more football or baseball.”