The Vancouver Whitecaps have rewarded Scottish star Ryan Gauld with a contract extension through 2027.
The 28-year-old attacking midfielder was going into the final year of his existing contract. A designated player, Gauld was Vancouver’s highest-paid player last season at US$2.5 million.
Gauld scored 12 goals and had a team-high 17 assists in 42 appearances, including 40 starts, last year as Vancouver made the playoffs for the second time in the past three seasons.
Gauld joined the Whitecaps in July 2021. Since then he has scored 26 goals and added 34 assists in 94 appearances in all competitions.
“Since joining the club in the summer of 2021, Ryan has been the creative force behind our attack and one of the league’s best players,” Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement. “He has helped us push forward as a club by making the MLS Cup playoffs twice and winning two Canadian Championships, all while bringing a top level of professionalism to the locker-room every day.”
Gauld was named Whitecaps player of the year in 2022 and ’23 and won the George Gross Memorial Trophy in 2022 as Canadian Championship MVP.
“From Day 1, the support in the city has been great. My fiancée (Kat) and I have felt welcomed by everyone in and around the club,” said Gauld. “To know that I’m going to be in Vancouver for the next four years is a good feeling. We’ve loved the time we’ve had here and we are looking forward to what’s to come.”
Gauld, a product of Scotland’s Dundee United academy, came to Vancouver from Portugal’s SC Farense. He has also played for Dundee United’s senior team and Hibernian in Scotland and Sporting CP, Vítoria Setúbal FC and Deportivo Avesh in Portugal.
