New York City FC are delighted to announce the signing of Alexander Callens, pending receipt of his P-1 visa and ITC.

The Peruvian 24-year old joins on a free transfer from Numancia.

A pacey and powerful left-footed center back, Callens has made 10 international appearances for Peru and arrives in New York following six years in Spain.

Callens told NYCFC.com: “This is a great joy. It's a new experience that I'm sure will help me maintain a good competitive rhythm and will help me develop more at my position.

“Of course it's exciting to have a coach like Patrick Vieira with experience at a world level and who will guide me to help improve in my performance.

“I'm a player who pulls out the claws and leaves everything on the field, ready to defend the team, and I have a lot to learn but I'm sure I'll meet the fans’ expectations.”

His new Head Coach Patrick Vieira said: “I’m really happy to welcome Alexander to the squad. He’s an international defender with the characteristics we look for in his position.

“On top of this, he’s somebody who is hungry for success in his career, so I’m looking forward to him arriving here in Florida to train with us and to working with him.”

Previous to his 18 months at Numancia where he played 40 times, Alexander represented Real Sociedad B between 2011 and 2015, making 86 league appearances.

Callens emerged through the youth ranks at six-time Peruvian champions Sport Boys in his homeland.

Sporting Director Claudio Reyna added: “We are excited to add a tall, quick, strong defender who we believe will fit into our style of play and is motivated to get started with our club.

“We believe that Alexander has the potential to improve further working with us and so we’re really happy to have added him to our roster for 2017.”

The Callao-born defender was named in Peru’s preliminary Copa America squad for the Centernario in the U.S last summer but narrowly missed out on selection for the final 23-man roster.