By CAITLIN MURRAY
The Montreal Impact have signed Belgian defender Laurent Ciman to a three-year contract, the club announced Thursday. Despite his high profile, the signing is not as a Designated Player.
“We are very pleased to acquire a player of Laurent’s quality and we are very excited that he has decided to continue his career with our club,” said Impact head coach Frank Klopas in a statement. “We were looking for a quality centre back with a lot of experience. He is a key addition to our defense and will be a leader within the group.”
Ciman, 29, joins Major League Soccer from Standard Liège, where he has played since 2010, which includes a Belgian Cup win in 2011. He also went to Brazil with the Belgium national team, but did not make any appearances.
For Ciman, the move to Montreal appears to be just as much personal as professional. His daughter, who is autistic, will be able to receive better care in Canada, he said.
“I’m very excited to join the Montreal Impact and MLS. This will be a new adventure for me and my family,” said Ciman in a statement. “It is also an opportunity for my daughter, so that she could have the proper support and instruction. I would like to thank the president, my agent and all the staff of the club for this new challenge. I can’t wait to meet my new teammates, the city and the fans.”
Ciman has spent his entire career in Belgian’s first division, playing a total of 286 regular season games, including 269 starts, since 2004. Other clubs he has played for include Charleroi, Club Brugge and Kortrijk. He has 10 career goals and 11 assists.
In cross-league competition, the Belgian native also appeared in four qualifying matches for the UEFA Champions League, 16 games in the Europa League, two Europa League qualifiers and five matches in the UEFA Cup.
He has made 9 appearances for Belgium’s national team and was part of the squad that went to Brazil last summer.
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What do you think of this signing? What do you make of the Impact’s offseason roster moves? What do you make of him not being signed as a DP?
Share your thoughts below.
Another discard *(rolls eyes).
If his kid is locked into a particular doctor or program, I hope his agent included a no trade clause, which might be the reason he isn’t going to be a DP.
Good observation.
he isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, to come to NA for the healthcare. Come for the healthcare, stay for the soccer!
Or, come for the fries, stay for the gravy and cheese they’re soaking in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_ranking_of_health_systems_in_2000
US is 38th best ! Not even as good our FIFA ranking. Canada 30th.
The ranking system puts an emphasis on life-threatening illnesses by weighting the score 50% towards adjustment of life expectancy with a disability (i.e. patients live x years longer in country y with disease z).
For autism, this is not as much of a factor. So the ranking system (as with any ranking system) is incomplete with so few factors considered.
Belgium is ranked 21, higher than Canada with this metric.
The US has the best health care system in the world if you’re wealthy. If not, not so much.
Exactly. Big European clubs often send their players here for treatment because, if you can afford it, we have the best healthcare system anywhere. That’s great for those of us who can access but of course not so great for those who can’t.
I have heard it said that if you are in a health emergency (911 type situations) we have the best health system in the world but for everyday healthcare our system is poor and we pay twice as much as any western country. I am not a healthcare expert though because as an Army brat I got too used to socialized medicine and have never been able to understand “normal” healthcare since.
CORRECTION: The US has the best healthcare, but a terrible, terrible system. And for the record, I don’t care why quality players under 30 come to MLS, as long as they come.