Laurent Ciman was “shocked” to learn he had been traded to Los Angeles FC by Montreal Impact after expecting to see out his MLS career in Quebec, his agent has said.
Belgium international Ciman, 32, will swap Canada for California for the forthcoming MLS campaign with Raheem Edwards and Jukka Raitala moving in the opposite direction.
Ciman, who joined from Standard Liege on a three-year deal in 2015, recently had a house built in Montreal. He was informed of the situation when he spoke to agent Jean Russo.
“That chat was a real kick in the teeth,” Russo told 91.9 Sports.”Laurent and [his wife] Diana were shocked — they didn’t sleep the whole night.
“His first reaction, in the heat of the moment, was: ‘We let everything go!’ That’s why he didn’t want to speak to the media immediately.
“After a night’s sleep, he said to himself that he would keep the house and come back here.”
Russo said Impact’s decision had left Ciman rushing to find a suitable solution for his autistic daughter Nina, with a month remaining until Los Angeles FC, coached by Bob Bradley, begin preseason training.
“It happens in sport, but the club could have informed us so we could find installations for Nina, a house etc,” he said.
“We only have a month now. Words fly around, but only what is written down remains. From now on, I won’t trust anyone. There was a verbal understanding that Laurent would spend his whole MLS career at Montreal Impact.”
But Russo added that there was “a great challenge with Bob Bradley,” and said: “Laurent has to go there to become the defender he was in 2015. With such a coach, it’s more than possible.”
Ian is ESPN’s French football correspondent. Twitter: @ian_holyman