OTTAWA — Atletico Ottawa has signed Canadian international winger Ballou Tabla to a three-year contract.
Tabla, 22, has spent time with both CF Montreal and FC Barcelona's B team in Spain. Montreal declined his contract option in late November.
In January 2018, after featuring in 21 MLS games, an 18-year-old Tabla became the first Montreal academy product to be sold to a European team. He went on to appear in 30 matches over two seasons for Barcelona B in Spain's second tier.
Tabla returned to MLS in August 2019, first on a loan agreement then on a permanent transfer to CF Montreal.
"The last few years have been tough for me, I had to fight through injuries what seemed every six months or so," said Tabla. "I feel good now, I'm healthy, and I'm happy to be in Ottawa."
Tabla, who has won two caps for Canada at the senior level, played in 32 MLS regular-season games from 2017 to 2021 with three goals and two assists.
"We are thrilled to welcome Ballou to our club," Atletico Ottawa CEO Fernando Lopez said in a statement. "We saw that he loves to get on the ball, attack the opposition and create opportunities. We expect him to be one of the most dangerous attackers in the league and cannot wait to see him — and our club — succeed."
The Canadian Premier League team, whose roster now stands at 17 players, opens the 2022 regular season April 9 at home to Calgary's Cavalry FC.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022
The Canadian Press