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Dennis te Kloese, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF)'s director of youth national teams, is one of the finalists for the San Jose Earthquakes' general manager position, multiple sources have told ESPN FC. Former Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton and current San Jose technical director Chris Leitch are also among the five finalists. The Quakes have been without a GM since parting ways with John Doyle on Aug. 29. Leitch has assumed the GM duties on an interim basis since then. One source said that the finalists began making their final presentations to the club on Monday, and those meetings are expected to continue over the next few days. As te Kloese's modest playing career in the Netherlands came to a close, he studied law at the University of Amsterdam, and then transitioned into front-office positions with various soccer entities. In 2003 he was named scouting director of CD Guadalajara under then-manager and compatriot Hans Westerhof, lasting two years with the club. He then served as the director of soccer for MLS side Chivas USA -- then Guadalajara's sister club -- from 2005-08. Te Kloese then returned to Mexico to work as UANL Tigres' academy director from 2008-11, where he used his United States-based contacts to recruit American-born players to the club including former U.S. under-20 international Juan Pablo Ocegueda. Following his stint with Tigres, te Kloese worked for the FMF for the first time as director of youth national teams. He then served as sporting president of both Chivas de Guadalajara and Chivas USA for much of 2013, but left his position shortly before Christmas after a year of struggle for both clubs. He returned to the FMF in February 2014. During te Kloese's two stints with the FMF, Mexico's U17 team finished in fourth place at the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup, while the U23 team won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
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