MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced on Tuesday that Academy midfielder Zakaria Messoudi has signed a professional contract with the club. As per MLS policy, details of the deal were not disclosed.
Messoudi, who joined the Academy in 2010, has been training with the first team since the start of the season and was part of the group that travelled to Italy for the Impact’s post-season tour last November.
“I am very excited to have signed my first pro contract with the club,” said Messoudi. “In a way, it’s a dream that is coming true as I’ve been a part of the club for over three years now and it is the culmination of a lot of hard work.”
“We’re extremely happy to have him officially on board,” said Impact sporting director Nick De Santis. “We are going to need depth on our roster going into the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League and with more MLS Reserve League games coming up. Even though he’s only 19-years-old, he’s never looked out of place around the first team. He’s young and has a lot of potential.”
“It's a dream come true for me.”
- Zakaria Messoudi
"Zakaria is a very creative player. He finds solutions on the pitch that others don't see,” noted Impact Academy director Philippe Eullaffroy. “He's worked really hard to find discipline in his game and has forced himself to become a better defensive player. He is now being compensated for all the hard work he's put in. He must maintain that effort in order to accelerate his development and continue his progress, but he's definitely on the right track."
Messoudi has become the fifth Academy player to make the jump to MLS after Karl W. Ouimette, Maxim Tissot, Wandrille Lefèvre and Maxime Crépeau.
In 2013, he played three games with the Canadian U20 National Team in February at the CONCACAF U20 Championship in Mexico.
Originally from Morocco, he moved to Canada with his family at 8-years-old and played is minor soccer with Montreal-Concordia AAA.
ZAKARIA MESSOUDI
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5’10
Weight: 160 lbs.
Birth date: October 30, 1993, Casablanca, Morocco
Place of residence: Montreal, Quebec
Acquired: June 4, 2013
