MONTREAL – CF Montréal announced Tuesday that midfielder Rida Zouhir has been loaned to San Antonio FC of the United Soccer League (USL) for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Zouhir also signed a contract extension that includes an additional guaranteed year in 2024 and an option year in 2025.
The 19-year-old Zouhir will leave on loan for the first time since his ascension from the CF Montréal Academy ranks. He signed his first professional contract on December 4, 2020.
The midfielder joined the Club's Academy in 2016 from amateur club CS Braves d'Ahuntsic and made his professional debut on August 8, 2021, against D.C. United. That was followed two months later by a first start on October 27 in the Canadian Championship semifinals against Forge FC at the age of 17. His first MLS start came on March 12, 2022, against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.
Since making his professional debut, Zouhir has played 12 regular season MLS matches for a total of 351 minutes. This season, he has played five games, including one start, for a total of 218 minutes. He also made four appearances in the Canadian Championship and two more in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 series against Santos Laguna of LIGA MX. He also picked up his first career assist in the preliminary round of the 2023 Canadian Championship on April 18 against Vaughan SC.
Last summer, he was selected by Canada's U-20 team to compete in the Concacaf U-20 Championship in Honduras where he featured in all three group stage matches as well as a Round of 16 match against Guatemala.
Transaction: Rida Zouhir is loaned to San Antonio FC of the USL for the remainder of the 2023 season. He also signs a contract extension with an additional guaranteed year in 2024 and an option year in 2025.
