Rumour: Atletico Ottawa Making Move For Myklebust

Canadian Premier League side Atletico Ottawa hoisted the North Star Shield in November, but the club’s title defence campaign sees the side march on without team-leading goalscorer Samuel Salter and key attacker David Rodriguez.

The club is now in advanced discussions with Norwegian striker Erling Flotve Myklebust, a 29-year-old centre forward who entered free agency at the turn of the new year.

Myklebust had spent the last four seasons with Norwegian second division side Asane Fotball, registering a healthy return of 35 goals and ten assists in 109 appearances. He’s spent most of his career in native Norway, having prospected for first division side FK Haugesund to earn a handful of top division appearances before going on loan stints to Norwegian lower-tier sides Stord IL and SK Vard, with the centre-forward eventually signing with the latter.

He’s also tested himself with Faroese side 07 Vestur, featuring in eight matches before returning to Vard before his four-year stint with Asane Fotball.

The 29-year-old was reportedly offered an extension with the second-tier club for 2026, but declined in favour of securing a move abroad. Now, a move to the Canadian capital is progressing.

Last season saw Atletico Ottawa have a mixed bag of results up top: Samuel Salter was scoring in spades, but international signing Monty Patterson left on mutual termination with no goals to his name. The side also brought striker Richie Ennin last fall, but so far fans have seen less than half an hour of output from the well-travelled Canadian.

This year has seen the capital city club take in Atletico San Luis players Jonantan Villal and Emiliano Garcio on loan, having also added midfielders Marko Stojadinovic, Tim Arnauld, and Daniel Aguilar, with the backline seeing Haiti international Garissone Innocent and former Atletico Madrid prospect Roni Mbomio sign on permanent deals.

The striker would make history as the first Norwegian to play in Canada’s top flight should he ultimately come to terms with Atletico Ottawa, though it’d unclear if Myklebust would be available in time for the club’s Concacaf Champions Cup match against Nashville SC.

The capital city club ended its last season in a snowstorm finale, a situation that the Norwegian wouldn’t flinch at – not that the weather stopped Atletico Ottawa from rising to the occasion ’25.

Header Image Photo Courtesy: Asane Fotball