Jonathan Lee Klinsmann (born April 8, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian Serie C Group B club Cesena. He is the son of former German footballer Jürgen Klinsmann. He holds both German and American citizenship.
Early life Jonathan Klinsmann was born in Munich, Germany, on April 8, 1997. His father is former German footballer and manager Jürgen Klinsmann, and his mother is former American model Debbie Chin, who was born in San Jose, California to Chinese immigrants. From 1998 to 2008, Jonathan lived with his parents in Newport Beach, California. He then moved back to Munich in 2008 until the end of 2009, while his father was manager of Bayern Munich. Klinsmann graduated in 2015 from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, and from 2015 to 2017 attended the University of California, Berkeley. He has both American and German citizenship. In addition to soccer, Klinsmann also played basketball in his time at the Mater Dei High School.
Youth soccer Jonathan spent most of his youth playing as a striker at FC Blades 96 and the Irvine Lasers. Only with his move to the Bayern Munich youth academy did he transition to goalkeeper. Upon his return to California, he became part of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, and henceforth played for Pateadores FC and then at Irvine Strikers FC. In parallel, he played from 2011 to 2014 for his high school team MDHS Varsity Soccer. In the 2014 season, he completed 33 games for the Strikers in the Development Academy and reached the finals of the National Championship. From 2015 to 2017, Klinsmann played for the California Golden Bears, where he made 22 appearances.
Club career Hertha BSC After having spent most of his school holidays between 2014 and 2017 with the youth teams of his father's home club VfB Stuttgart, Klinsmann completed part of his preparation for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup at VfB Stuttgart II, West Ham United, and Everton. After initial interest from Eintracht Braunschweig, Jonathan completed a ten-day trial from July 3, 2017 with Hertha BSC. Even before the ten-day trial was over, Klinsmann signed professionally for Hertha BSC on July 11, 2017, with the contract lasting until June 30, 2019.
Klinsmann made his professional debut for Hertha BSC in the UEFA Europa League on December 7, 2017, in which he saved a penalty in a 1–1 home draw against Östersunds FK.
