Michael Dacosta Gonzalez

Michael Dacosta González (born 5 March 2005) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Crawley Town on loan from club AFC Bournemouth. He was called up to the Spain national under-19 team.

Early life
Dacosta was born in Alicante, Spain, and began his career in the academy of local side Alicante. At the age of six, he was involved in a traffic accident while riding on the back of his father's motorcycle, suffering a bad injury to his right foot. As this was his stronger foot while playing football, he had to adapt his playing style, learning to favour his left foot instead.

Club career
Following his departure from Alicante, Dacosta joined Hércules, before his parents decided to move to England. They settled in London, and he played for a number of grassroots teams before his family moved again, to Portsmouth. While playing for another grassroots team in Portsmouth, he was offered a trial at professional side Bournemouth, who signed him after four weeks, despite the trial being scheduled for six.

Dacosta settled in to his new team well, notably scoring twice for Bournemouth's under-18s in a 2–0 win over Exeter City in the FA Youth Cup. In the 2022–23 season, he scored fourteen goals for the youth team, earning him a spot on the bench for a Premier League match against Brentford, though he did not feature.

On 10 July 2024, Dacosta joined League One club Crawley Town on a season-long loan deal.

International career
Dacosta is eligible to represent Spain through birth, Ecuador and Equatorial Guinea through his mother and father, respectively, Colombia through his maternal grandfather, and England by virtue of living in the country since he was young.

On 29 August 2023, Dacosta was called up to the Spain national under-19 football team.

Personal life
Dacosta's younger brother, Malcom, is also a footballer, and currently also plays in the academy of Bournemouth.