Jonathan Dos Santos appeared on Club América’s social channels on Monday with a short written farewell addressed to teammates, directiva, coaching staff, utileros and the fans, saying his time at the club had been “el mayor reto de su carrera” and that he had joined América to continue his father Zizinho’s legacy.
The exit was made official by Club América the same day and came after three years and a half in Mexico, a period in which Dos Santos became one of André Jardine’s most important players and a steady presence in the midfield during América’s Liga MX tricampeonato — Apertura 2023, Clausura 2024 and Apertura 2024. The club posted the farewell video on its social-media accounts immediately after announcing his departure.
Dos Santos, 36 years old and formed in FC Barcelona’s academy, framed his move to América as personal and unfinished business: his father, Zizinho, had played for the club in the 1980s and died a few months before Jonathan signed. That connection, he said in the message, was the motivation behind joining the team and trying to honor a family name that carries weight at the stadium.
The facts of his tenure are simple and substantial: three and a half years in a squad that won three consecutive Liga MX titles, and a role singled out by coaching staff as central to the run. Those trophies — Apertura 2023, Clausura 2024 and Apertura 2024 — are the immediate metric of what he leaves behind at the club.
Still, the departure lands amid a season of quiet turbulence. Reports about Dos Santos leaving had been circulating since this semester, and the chatter intensified when he was seen crying after América’s quarterfinal elimination by Pumas in Clausura 2026. That emotional moment, following the loss, became the flashpoint for speculation that his time in Mexico was drawing to a close.
There is a second seam running under the personal story: América itself has been in transition after coaching and staff shifts, a reckoning that has already prompted links to a possible broader shake-up — a thread tracked in coverage tying Guillermo Almada and others to the club’s next steps ( Dos Santos’ exit tightens that equation; losing a veteran midfielder who helped secure three straight titles leaves a practical question about how the squad replaces leadership on the pitch.
The farewell letter made two things plain to supporters: he saw the move as the culmination of a family promise tied to Zizinho’s time at the club, and he believes his stint at América represented the biggest challenge of his career. He did not, in that message, declare an immediate next step for himself — there was no announcement of retirement, nor of a new club.
What happens next is the story’s clearest open question. Dos Santos’ public exit closes the chapter on one of América’s recent architects; the single consequential unanswered point is whether he will formally retire from professional soccer or seek another role — on the field or off it. For now, the club has moved on, the video is archived on its channels, and fans are left with a legacy of three titles and an unresolved final act from a player who came to Mexico to honor his father.
