Transfermarkt: Gazdov Picks Up Interest In MLS, Abroad

After winning the CPL’s golden glove award and earning a nomination for the league’s Best U-21 Canadian player, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising to hear interesting is building for Pacific goalkeeper Emil Gazdov.

According to Transfermarkt, the 21-year-old shotstopper has accrued interest from all three Canadian MLS sides in addition to a few European suitors that include VfL Bochum, who had visited the club earlier this month as part of a club partnership and had a clear opportunity to see the young goalkeeper up close.

Flashback: Gazdov: Pacific Is The ‘Perfect Place’ For The Young Number One Goalkeeper

Gazdov is coming off a strong campaign between the sticks, finishing second in the clean sheet race with seven after 21 regular season league appearances. The North Vancouver-born shotstopper finished second-place in goals against per ninety (0.94) despite facing the third-most shots per 90 (12.28) amongst goalkeepers with at least ten starts in the campaign.

Now just one appearance shy of fifty for Pacific, it’s quite rare to see a goalkeeper of his age carve out so much experience at the professional level, though whether that results in a transfer remains to be seen.

2024 marked his second season as the club’s number one, though the more senior Sean Melvin fought back some good minutes at the tail end of the year. Still, it’s looking like the club’s decision to sign Gazdov through to 2025 with a club option for a further year was a smart move.

We’ve seen goalkeepers who have spent time in the CPL step well into the MLS level before, with Jonathan Sirois (CF Montreal) and James Pantemis (Portland FC) both stepping up well into the league following loan spells with Valour. Gazdov was once part of the ‘Caps youth system, though it would be tough to carve minutes between Yohei Takaoka and his understudy Max Anchor.

With the rumours swirling just days into the offseason, it’s set to be a long winter for Pacific fans – especially given that they lost key players like Manny Aparicio and Amer Didic last time around.

Source: Transfermarkt

Header Image Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League