An in-depth look into our 11th summer signing of the window, Gustavo Puerta…
Born in La Victoria, Colombia, Puerta began his footballing career at the Talentos Gustavo Victoria Deportes school in Tuluá. Playing amateur football for Supercampeones between the ages of 10 and 16, he received a trial at Primera A side Independiente Santa Fe in 2019.
The 5’7” midfielder joined Colombian second division side Bogotá in 2021 and featured in their reserves before making his senior debut in July 2021, playing the full fixture in a goalless draw against Tigres FC in Torneo Dimayor II. Featuring eight times in his breakout season, with four of them starts, he played 475 senior minutes and contributed to four victories.
The 2022 season saw Puerta become a consistent figure in the Bogotá team, showing his versatility by operating on either flank as a winger, as a central midfielder and attacking midfielder.
Scoring his first goal in senior football on the opening matchday of the Torneo Dimayor season, a 2-1 win over Quindío in January 2022, his next finish came in the Face Final Torneo Dimayor in a 2-1 home victory over Tigres FC four months later. Netting his third goal of the season in the Torneo Dimayor II in a 2-1 win over Cúcuta Deportivo in August, the midfielder recorded two assists in fixtures against Real Cundinamarca and CBJ Cali.
After featuring 31 times for Bogotá in total, scoring three goals and assisting twice, Puerta made the move to Germany at 19 years old to join Bayer Leverkusen in January 2023, before immediately being loaned out to Bundesliga 2 side FC Nürnberg for the remainder of the 2022/23 season. However, the midfielder did not feature for Der Altmeister (The Old Master) during his short-term loan, being an unused substitute once in a 3-0 defeat against Hamburg, managed by City head coach Tim Walter in March 2023.
Returning to Leverkusen for the 2023/24 season, the young Colombian made his debut for Xavi Alonso’s team in the second game of the Bundesliga season as a late substitute, replacing Victor Boniface in a 3-0 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in August 2023.
Making seven league appearances in their historic undefeated Bundesliga title win, all coming in wins, the midfielder’s two starts for the club came in the Europa League. After featuring for 10 minutes in the 5-1 thumping of Qarabag, Puerta started the final two Group H wins over Häcken and Molde. Being on the bench in the quarter-final win over Stuttgart saw him involved in the DFB-Pokal-winning squad and he was also an unused substitute in the Europa League final, which they lost 3-0 against Atalanta. In total, Puerta was an unused substitute 32 times in all competitions for Leverkusen, playing 229 minutes in 10 appearances for the club.
Internationally, the 21-year-old has been capped for Colombia at Under-19 and Under-20 levels. Featuring three times for the Under-19s, his caps came in friendlies against Mexico, USA and Brazil in November 2021. Seven months after Héctor Cárdenas gave him his first caps for the Under-19s, he gave Puerta his first Under-20 cap in May 2022, registering an assist in a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat against Comoros Under-20s.
On his third Under-20s cap, Puerta captained the side against Japan, and opened the scoring in a 2-1 win. Skipper again on his sixth cap, a 1-0 victory over the Dominican Republic and scoring again against the Dominican three days later, the midfielder captained Colombia to a third-place finish in the 2022 South American Games, winning 2-1 against Uruguay in the third-place play-off. Scoring twice in the Under-20 South American Championship in 2023 against Brazil and Paraguay, along with a brace of assists in a 2-1 win over Peru, Puerta captained the team to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Under-20 World Cup, netting in the first group game against Israel.
Scoring five and recording eight assists in 30 caps at Under-20 level for his country, the 21-year-old has been an unused substitute twice for the Colombia senior national team, appearing on the bench in friendly victories over Spain and Romania in March 2024.