Kenyan midfielder Wanyama signs 2-year contract to remain with CF Montreal

CF Montreal has signed midfielder Victor Wanyama to a two-year contract extension through the 2024 Major League Soccer season.

Wanyama will remain a designated player with the team.

The 31-year-old joined Montreal on a free transfer from English Premier League side Tottenham on March 3, 2020.

He has five goals and eight assists over 80 MLS games with Montreal, including 78 as a starter.

He also played the full 90 minutes in each of the club’s last six CONCACAF Champions League matches.

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Wanyama, who was finalist for the club’s most valuable player award last year, had previously said he would be leaving the club at the end of the 2022 season.

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“At the end of the season, I think I will leave,” Wanyama said in October. “I’ve had great years here, I’ve enjoyed being part of the team. It’s been great.”

The financial terms of Wanyama’s extension were not released. The captain earned US$3.09 million last season and was Montreal’s highest-paid player.

“We are glad to have concluded a new deal with Victor and that he remains with us,” CF Montreal vice-president and chief sporting officer, Olivier Renard said in a release. “During the last three seasons, he has been an important player on the field and in the locker room.

“His personality, his experience, and his qualities as a player will notably help us with the stability of the group for the season to come.”

Before joining Montreal, the midfielder from Nairobi, Kenya, played four seasons with Tottenham, where he registered six goals and one assist in 69 regular season games. He was part of the Tottenham squad that reached the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League final.

He made his English debut with Southampton in 2013, becoming the first Kenyan player to appear in the English Premier League. He also played for Celtic, helping the Scottish giants to league titles in 2012 and 2013.

He has also played professionally in Belgium, Sweden and Kenya.

At the international level, Wanyama scored seven goals in 64 games with the Kenyan national team.

“I’m excited to stay at the club and the city where I have been so happy for the past three years,” Wanyama said.