The Montreal Impact announced on Saturday the acquisition of Canadian international and Québécois right-back Zachary Brault-Guillard, following a transfer from French club Olympique Lyonnais. Brault-Guillard signed a two-year contract with the club, with options for 2022 and 2023.
“We are glad to have completed the transfer of Zachary Brault-Guillard,” said Impact sporting director Olivier Renard. “He is a promising young Canadian that showed his qualities last season, and we are happy to have him with us for many years.”
Brault-Guillard, 21, was on loan with the Impact last season, appearing in 13 regular-season games, including eight starts, and playing 871 minutes. He was named on the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week in the first week of league play. He then helped the Impact win the 2019 Canadian Championship, starting two games during the tournament.
Before joining the Impact, he had been captain of Olympique Lyonnais’ reserve team since August 2018, in the Championnat national 2, after signing his first professional contract with the Ligue 1 side in May 2018. He had also worn the captain’s armband while playing with the U19 team. He started five games in the 2016 UEFA Youth League, with OL facing Juventus, Sevilla and Dinamo Zagreb in the U19 tournament.
Born in Haiti and then adopted by a Québécois father and a French mother, Brault-Guillard was raised in Montreal until the age of seven before moving to France. He spent time with youth clubs Lagnieu and Ain Sud, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, before entering the Olympique Lyonnais academy with the U13 team.
At the international level, he has played four games with the Canadian national team, including three starts, making his senior debut on October 16, 2018, against Dominica in a Concacaf Nations League qualifying game. He also played in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup. He had played three games with the U20 team in the 2017 Concacaf U20 Championship, in Costa Rica. He joined the Canadian program in 2016, at the age of 17.
Transaction: The Montreal Impact acquires defender Zachary Brault-Guillard, following a permanent transfer from Olympique Lyonnais. Brault-Guillard signed a two-year contract with the club, with options for 2022 and 2023.
ZACHARY BRAULT-GUILLARD
Position: Right-back
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 145 lbs
Birthdate and birthplace: December 30, 1998, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Hometown: Lyon, France
Citizenships: Haiti, Canada & France
Last club: Olympique Lyonnais (France)
Date acquired: January 25, 2020
