In the growing list of U.S. players abroad, there's an American making his name known at the youngest ages of the Atlético Madrid academy.

Federico Oliva, born July 22, 2004, joined Atlético Madrid’s academy in 2012. This past season, he was one of the top players on the club’s Benjamin team.

Oliva connected with the club thanks to an affiliation with a Chicago-based coach named Jorge Noval. The former professional player from the Argentine leagues established relationships with a number of clubs in Europe and helped open doors for Federico and his brother Nicolas.

Once in Spain, Federico quickly found a home with Atlético Madrid and became a highly touted prospect in its academy.

“Federico is a very important player for them right now,” Federico’s father David Oliva told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “They consider him a franchise player. That means that they are planning to keep him in the club for at least 10 years. They don’t have many players in the club with that consideration.”

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Federico has lived up to his billing. Earlier this month, he was named the player of the tournament at El Alamo in Madrid.

“It was the second time that he was named the best player of a tournament this season,” David said. “First time was at Elche Fair Play Cup in December. Atlético lost in the semifinal against Real Madrid in penalties after a 1-1 draw, but Federico still won the player of the tournament.”

At El Alamo, Atlético won the tournament and Federico finished as the top scorer with nine goals including a hat trick against Getafe in the final.

Adjusting to life in another country can be difficult, but the Oliva family has kept the routine pretty consistent over the past few years to help with the transition.

“Federico goes to a private American school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” David explained. “He comes home for lunch – after that, he does some soccer drills in the back yard. At around 5:20 p.m., we leave home for Atlético de Madrid facilities where he has to be at 6 p.m. They practice from 6:30 to 8 on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays.”

David said that Federico also trains with his brother on Tuesdays at his academy.

“Nicolas is playing for an Academy run by an Argentine ex-professional soccer player, Miguel Angel Coira,” David said of the older brother. “This academy, which is called La Academia 2M12, works to form the players in all the aspects that they need to reach the big clubs here in Europe.”

David said that Nicolas has developed quite a bit during his time with the team.

While Nicolas and Federico were both born in the U.S., David and his wife were born in Argentina and moved to the States in 1996. The boys are fluent in Spanish, which has definitely helped while playing in Spain.

The opportunity for the boys to play with and against some of the best youth teams and players in the world is thanks to a lot of diligent training and some impressive ball command.

David attributes it to Ela Soccer Club for where the boys picked up these attributes.

“It is very important to mention Ela Soccer Club and coach Gin Sharma and Jose Fleita who were very important in the soccer formation of my kids before coming to Spain,” David said.

Federico, while highly regarded at the club, is like other players in Spain where his contract ranges from one to two years. He will be back with the La Liga champions next season.