MONTREAL -- Homegrown soccer player Ballou Tabla is returning to the Montreal Impact.
The 20-year-old midfielder was acquired by the Impact from Spanish club FC Barcelona, the team announced Wednesday. The clubs came to terms on a two-year contract with a two-year option after Tabla joined the prestigious Catalan club on Jan. 25, 2018.
He joined the Impact on loan on Aug. 7, 2019 and played four MLS games, including one start.
“We are happy to have Ballou back with us following this transfer,” said Impact sporting director Olivier Renard. “The talent of this young Quebecer was never put into question. Now, it’s up to him to do everything and bounce back.”
In 2017, in his first year in the North American league, he played 21 games, including 11 starts, with two goals and two assists. He became the youngest player in Impact history to play in an MLS match, at the age of 17 and 338 days, on March 4, 2017 against the San José Earthquakes.
He then played 30 games with FC Barcelona's reserve team, in addition to playing a match with the FC Barcelona U19s in the European U19 championship, scoring three goals and two assists.
In winter 2019, he was sent on loan to Albacete Balompié, in the Spanish second division, where he played two games.
Born in the Ivory Coast, Tabla moved to Quebec as a child and joined the Impact's Academy in 2012. He played with the Impact U18 in 2015 before joining FC Montreal (USL) in 2016. He previously played with the Pointe-aux-Trembles Jets and Montreal amateur club CS Panellinios.
-- with files from The Canadian Press.
