From New Jersey: The 16-year-old native of South Plainfield is making the move from New Jersey to England after signing a professional contract with Fulham F.C. of the English Football League – just one step down from the English Premier League. https://jerseysportszone.com/gsb-goalkeeper-forgoes-hs-now-chasing-pro-career-in-england/ (And yes, we know, Fulham was promoted.) That article points to this video, which has him telling some of his story: Another snip: “I was very proud of myself and so was my family, my mom and grandma were crying,” Borto said of the moment he signed his contract virtually. “They were really proud of me. I didn’t cry but I was really happy. It’s like a dream come true. I signed a pro contract but I’m not playing with the first team yet so my dream hasn’t been fulfilled quite yet but this is a big step closer to that dream. I’ve worked half my life for this and there are thousands or even hundreds of thousands of kids that want to be in that position right now. I’m just so grateful for that opportunity. Hard work really pays off.” https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports...-P8A_8rLnd-rV45KRGNTFUa8KLXDGJc2lDWY33RSOFgEI From his school: https://www.gsbschool.org/news-detail?pk=1210144&fromId=229596# Based on some tweets and other stuff I was able to find, he's been training there for several years. Seems to be an '03. http://njsa.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1647635
No clue about this kid, but isn't that other young goalie Damien Las with Fulham, too? He was supposed to be a top prospect, but haven't heard much about him for a while...
Well, Las signed last August and has been starting for the U18s and occasionally for the U23s. He's making good progress considering he turned 18 in April.
I would guess, yes. Depending on his passport situation, he couldn't move before age 16 anyway (unless his family moved for "non-football" reasons). And assuming the passport isn't a UK one, now is the window to move to England. On January 1st, 2021, no more auto-entry for non-Brits/Irish.
Snip: Though Borto will start with Fulham’s U18 side, the young goalkeeper has set himself targets of playing for the U23s within two years and competing for a First Team spot by the time he turns 20 or 21. But his ambition doesn’t stop there. https://www.usl-academy.com/news_article/show/1117065
Fulham has a pretty nice track record of developing GK's, even if they rarely play for the first team. David Stockdale had a nice career in the championship with at least a season in the Prem. Neil Etheridge was the #1 for the Cardiff team that got promoted and kept the shirt for their single Premier League season. Marcus Bettinelli (the longtime GK coach's son) has had an interesting career (almost got an England call up once) and if not for his devotion to Fulham would probably have been a Championship #1 at another club a couple of years ago. And then obviously they developed Marek Rodak who I firmly believe is an EPL quality goalkeeper. Not a bad place for some of our youth GK to go.
👀Damian Las was in goal for Fulham u18's 3-1 win over Brighton u18 this morning.he was backed up by 16 yr old American goalkeeper Alex Borto pic.twitter.com/YsZjwqhm4F— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) September 18, 2020
On the bench: Meet our new #FFCU18's! 👋New scholars @StefanParkes6 and George Okkas feature, with five more on the bench. 🙌Summer signing @BowieKieron starts. 🏴 pic.twitter.com/0A97BUxCYi— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) September 26, 2020
Started for U18s: Team Lineup: A Borto (GK), L D’Auria-Henry, T Antonsson, S Parkes, H Araujo, M Dibley-Dias, A Pajaziti, O O’Neill, L Harris, M Biereth, O Sanderson https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/october/West-Brom-U18-1-4-Fulham-U18/
Our #FFCU18 line-up! 📋One change as Ibane Bowat starts in defence. 💪Kick-off coming up at 11am. pic.twitter.com/njbWr483tX— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) October 31, 2020 1322527148574429189 is not a valid tweet id
Starts: This is how we line-up for this evening's #FAYC Third Round tie against @IpswichTown. 🙌#FFCU18 pic.twitter.com/TtI04jcNHG— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 7, 2020
Fulham FC's Alex Borto Interview NOW OUT EVERYWHERE!🎙 Listen: https://t.co/lL8ayCc1Gb▶️ Watch on YouTube: https://t.co/f8svHc3BYn🎥Clips on Tiktok: https://t.co/pvbOnf7qUw📸 Instagram: https://t.co/rs2np1jRxa pic.twitter.com/I4ImCo6S90— Ladcast (@JustLadcast) December 12, 2020
Looks like Alex Borto has a Polish passport. Here he is speaking in Polish Kiedyś pisałem tu, że Alexander Borto czuje się Polakiem. Urodzony i wychowany w USA bramkarz występuje w Premier League U-18 w barwach Fulham FC. W sumie dostałem życzenia od 38 piłkarzy z 23 różnych krajów, ale Alex poprosił jeszcze, by przekazać coś polskim kibicom 😀🇵🇱🤝🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/oljDx4AqrD— Arkadiusz Stelmach (@arek_stelmach) December 25, 2020
On the bench for the reserves: Our best approach. 🐈⬛Two changes as @KongoloTerence and Taye Ashby-Hammond step in. #FFCU23 pic.twitter.com/2aQB3kwbGp— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) February 19, 2021
On the bench: Master plan for The Magpies. ♟️@Jacob_Adams0 starts in goal. ⛔️@luca_murphy3, @sonnyhilton30 and @jonathonpage01 also back involved. 👋More playing time for @KongoloTerence! 👊#FFCU23 pic.twitter.com/aFj39tLWmt— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) March 26, 2021
Starts Steve Wigley's pick for today. 👔Matt Dibley-Dias returns to the midfield! 🔥#FFCU18 pic.twitter.com/SrGB15IhmW— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) March 27, 2021
Finished Fulham U18 4-0 West Ham U18, Borto playing the full game. Fulham remain in 1st place in the Premier League U18 Southern Division, though it's tight and five games remain.
It's a nice result for the team, but I feel obligated to point out that he didn't score even one of those goals.
Started in 5-1 U18 win: Prepped for The Royals. 👑@JayStansfield1, Luke Harris and Idris Odutayo step in. #FFCU18 pic.twitter.com/1QTQzfiKWd— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) April 23, 2021