Montreal Impact announce Jimmy Briand will not join team, despite reports

(Photo: Reteurs)

Information by MLS Official

Veteran French striker Jimmy Briand won't be joining the Montreal Impact as initially reported earlier this week, according to a statement published on the Impact's website Thursday.

According to the club, "French striker Jimmy Briand will not join the Montreal Impact as it was originally planned. Briand did not want to sign the MLS contract according to the terms negotiated and accepted by himself and his agent. Important additional requests by the Briand side at the last minute made the signing fall through."

Though the Briand deal didn't work out, Montreal's front office is still working on bringing in reinforcements. As the Impact's statement notes, "The Impact now directs its efforts towards other players to continue to improve the squad before the end of the international transfer window. A new signing should be announced in the coming days."

Briand, who turns 33 next week, has been with EA Guingamp, in France's top-flight Ligue 1, since 2015, and has also featured for French pro squads Rennes and Lyon. Prior to playing with Guingamp (famously a launching pad for former Impact standout Didier Drogba), Briand spent a season with Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga. 

Guingamp had announced the Briand move this past Sunday, prompting the Impact's social media team to declare the official announcement as "only a matter of time" ("n'est plus qu'une question de temps"): 

The Impact are next in action on Saturday, hosting Atlanta United (7 pm ET).