UPDATE: On July 22 EA Guingamp released a statement saying that the club have reached a transfer agreement for Briand, noting "the will clearly displayed by his player to leave the club" and adding that Guingamp "warmly thanks its former captain for the three seasons spent at the club and wishes him the same success in Montreal as his illustrious predecessor, Didier Drogba."
In the wake of that development, the Impact tweeted out the following:
TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report
The Montreal Impact are seeking to acquire veteran French striker Jimmy Briand from Ligue 1 side EA Guingamp when the MLS secondary transfer window opens next month, according to a French media report.
Rennes-based publication Ouest-France claims that Briand, Guingamp’s all-time leading scorer in Ligue 1 play, has long eyed MLS as an eventual destination and is in “advanced contact” with Montreal, who are led by Remi Garde, his former manager at Rennes.
The newspaper reports that Briand has one year remaining on his contract with Guingamp, who finished in 12th place in France’s top flight last season, helped by his 11 goals in league play.
A frontrunner who can also play on the wings, Briand – who turns 33 in August – carries more than a decade of Ligue 1 experience with Rennes, Lyon and Guingamp and also spent a single season in the German Bundesliga with Hannover 96. A product of the famed Clairefontaine academy, he was a longtime French youth international and earned five caps with the senior national team earlier in his career.
The Impact have suffered through a rough 2018 campaign to date and sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and the club’s leaders have made no secret of their desire to bolster the squad as quickly and dramatically as possible.
