CPL’s Vancouver FC signs Lebanese international Gabriel Bitar
Midfielder/ahead Gabriel Bitar is the seventh participant to signal with growth Vancouver FC forward of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season.
The 24-year-old from Ottawa spent final yr with now-defunct FC Edmonton, recording 5 targets and an help in 22 appearances. He dropped again to midfield with the Eddies from his regular position as striker.
“Gabriel is a powerful presence with the ball at his feet,” Vancouver head coach Afshin Ghotbi said in a statement. “He has an ability to create chances for himself through his strong dribbling and shooting skills. His movement off the ball also makes him a threat any time he is on the pitch.”
In 2021, Bitar went on trial with then-Lebanese champion Al Ansar FC, scoring two targets in two matches. Bitar, whose dad and mom had been born in Beirut, made his debut for the Lebanese males’s nationwide staff in December 2022.
Bitar, a two-time first-round decide within the annual CPL-U Sports draft, performed for the Carleton University Ravens from 2017 to 2021.
He was a two-time all-Canadian, Ontario University Athletics East MVP and winner of the Lou Bilek Award because the U Sports male rookie of the yr in 2017. He stays second on the college’s all-time scoring listing, with 40 targets.
Bitar made his CPL debut for Cavalry FC throughout the 2019 season, after being taken first total within the 2018 CPL-U Sports draft. After returning to Carleton, he went sixth total within the 2019 draft to Cavalry however didn’t be part of the membership for the Island Games in 2020.
“I am looking forward to building on my growth as a professional in 2022 with Vancouver this coming season,” Bitar said in a statement. “I learned a lot during my first full season as a professional and believe I can contribute even more to my new team as Vancouver takes the pitch for its first season this year.”
Bitar joins goalkeeper Callum Irving, defenders Kahlil John-Wentworth and Rocco Romeo, midfielder Elliot Simmons and strikers Mamadou Kane and Nathaniel St. Louis on the Vancouver roster.
In different CPL news, Cavalry FC has signed Canadian worldwide midfielder Shamit Shome to a multi-year contract.
The 25-year-old spent final season in his hometown on mortgage to FC Edmonton from Forge FC, which signed him in April.
Montreal chosen Shome within the second spherical (forty first total) of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft after he signed a Generation Adidas contract with the league. Shome made 52 appearances for Montreal earlier than the membership declined his contract possibility in November 2020
Valour FC signed Canadian midfielder Juan Pablo Sanchez and defender Eskander Mzoughi.
The 19-year-old Sanchez joins the Winnipeg staff after spending the earlier two seasons in Portugal with SC Salgueiros (Campeonato de Portugal). The 19-year-old Mzoughi spent final season in Belgium with Oud-Heverlee Leuven’s under-21 squad, logging 158 minutes in 12 appearances.
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