Valour FC made a splash on Friday by announcing the addition of experienced Congolese defender Arnold Bouka Moutou. Bouka Moutou, a 31-year-old left-back born in Reims, France, has spent the majority of his professional career between the top two French divisions. Most recently, he spent three years at Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO. He also spent four years at Angers (helping them earn promotion to Ligue 1 in 2015), after brief stints at a variety of other French clubs, beginning with his first pro opportunity at Épernay. Bouka Moutou plays internationally for the Republic of Congo, with 21 caps to his credit. Memorably, his only international goal was an 87th-minute equalizer in a 2018 World Cup qualifier to wipe out Mohamed Salah's earlier goal for Egypt — although the Liverpool star scored again in stoppage time to send Egypt to the World Cup. RELATED READING: CPL off-season roster tracker: Who’s in and who’s out for 2020? "We’re delighted to have him. ... A player of his experience and age now has a chance to show himself on a different continent," Valour coach Rob Gale said. Primarily a left-sided defender, Bouka Moutou also has experience playing further up the pitch in a wing position. Standing five-foot-nine, his success in his career has come from his ability to dribble move the ball quickly up the touchline. Valour is revamping its defence this off-season, with only Yohan Le Bourhis and Raphael Garcia returning from last year's backline. Bouka Moutou will be part of a trio of international defenders brought in to help out, joining Haitian Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Panamanian Amir Soto. In all, Bouka Moutou is the eighth new signing for Valour's 2020 roster (and the fifth new international), bringing the squad's total up to 11 as of Friday. They also have Marcus Campanile and Charlie Waters, their two U SPORTS draft picks from Cape Breton University, both of whom could well earn themselves a contract in pre-season. The club has also been holding open trials this week, in hopes of unearthing some more local talent (as they did with Tyler Attardo in 2019).

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