Pacific Inks Zakaria Bahous, Loans Out Lamothe

Canadian midfielder Zakaria Bahous is a free agent no more, inking a move to CPL title challengers Pacific FC.

The move sees the 22-year-old sign on a deadline day deal for the remainder of the season with a club option for 2024, while Pacific will loan midfielder Pierre Lamothe to Ho Chi Minh City FC for six months.

Bahous had spent the last two seasons with Atetico Ottawa after proving himself to be a PLSQ standout, with the Longueuil-born youngster making 38 appearances for the team overall. He scored three goals in that time, featuring regularly en route to the club’s 2022 regular season win before being named to the CPL’s Next Gen Class of 2022.

His departure was announced when the capital club club brought in Ilias Ilaidis on loan from CF Montreal about a month ago, with many fans caught surprised by the move. Back then, his agency made a post captioned ‘know your worth. Zak Bahous is heading for a new chapter’.

While York United had been interested in the midfielder back in 2022, his move this month sees him move much further westwards. he Tridents must be doing something right to attract domestic player talent, as last season saw Cedric Toussaint request that his former side York United arrange to move him over to west coast club, too.

“Zak has come in very hungry to help the group and integrate as quickly as possible,” added Pacific FC head coach James Merriman. “He is a consistent and versatile young player who has developed in this league and we believe he has the potential for more.”

Making way for Bahous is Lamothe, who’s contributions have dropped to 219 minutes during his second season in purple. Lamothe holds Vietnamese descent and stay with Ho Chi Minh City FC through to March 10, 2024, with a spell of gametime coming as much-needed refresher for the Canadian-born midfielder.

The Tridents will return to action to face second-last side Valour FC tomorrow afternoon.