VANCOUVER NEWS

Derek Cornelius - Returning from loan Cornelius will be returning to the Whitecaps for the 2023 campaign once his loan with Greek side Panetolikos ends in January.

Impact Cornelius tallied two goals and two assists across 32 Greek Super League appearances during his 18-month loan stint with Panetolikos, and the 25-year-old is now returning to Vancouver for the 2023 MLS season. He will be competing with Tristan Blackmon, Ranko Veselinovic, and Javain Brown for starts in the back-three, with the departures of Jake Nerwinski and Florian Jungwirth opening up some space in the depth chart.

NOVEMBER 30, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Vancouver Whitecaps sign forward Simon Becher from MLS NEXT Pro | MLSSoccer.com TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed Simon Becher from MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Whitecaps FC 2 to a contract t...

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 • MLSSOCCER.COM

Simon Becher - Signs first-team contract Becher has signed a one-year contract with the Whitecaps with the option to extend for an additional three seasons, the club announced Thursday.

Impact Becher scored on his MLS debut against the Dynamo in August, and the 23-year-old tallied eight goals and four assists with Vancouver's reserve team in MLS NEXT Pro in 2022. The 23-year-old is now being promoted to the senior team, where he can provide depth at center forward following the departure of Lucas Cavallini.

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Karifa Yao - Moving to Vancouver Yao was selected by the Whitecaps in Stage 1 of the 2022 MLS Re-Entry Draft on Thursday, after CF Montreal declined his contract option for 2023.

Impact Yao only made three senior team appearances after coming up through Montreal's academy, and he spent the majority of the last two seasons on-loan with Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. But the 22-year-old is now moving to Vancouver for the upcoming campaign, where he can provide depth in central defense.

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Vancouver Whitecaps sign wingback Ali Ahmed from MLS NEXT Pro | MLSSoccer.com TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing Vancouver Whitecaps FC have promoted wingback Ali Ahmed from their MLS NEXT Pro side, the club announced We...

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 • MLSSOCCER.COM

Ali Ahmed - Promoted to first team Ahmed has signed a three-year contract with the Whitecaps with the option to extend for an additional season, the club announced Wednesday.

Impact Ahmed tallied five assists in 15 MLS NEXT Pro appearances with Vancouver Whitecaps 2 last season, and he has already featured twice off the bench in MLS as well. The 22-year-old is now making the step up to the senior team, where he can compete with Ryan Raposo and Luis Martins for the starting left wing-back spot, as he's signed on with the club through the 2025 campaign at least.

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Whitecaps draw Real CD Espana in Champions League opening series VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps will launch their third Champions League campaign in early March against Honduran side Real CD Espana.

NOVEMBER 8, 2022 • THESTAR.COM

Ex-Whitecaps, Soccer Canada coach gets jail for sex assault

Former Vancouver Whitecaps and Soccer Canada coach Bob Birarda has been sentenced to over a year in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of se...

NOVEMBER 2, 2022 • ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tosaint Ricketts - Contract negotiations ongoing Ricketts' contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks with the player and have until Nov. 14 to make a decision about his future.

Impact Ricketts has been an impact substitute for pretty much the entirety of his four seasons in Vancouver, but he had his best campaign of the last five years in 2021 with four goals and one assist in 23 MLS appearances (two starts). The 35-year-old could move on from the club in the summer if no new deal is agreed upon by the November deadline.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Lucas Cavallini - Contract negotiations ongoing Cavallini's contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks with the player and have until Nov. 14 to make a decision about his future.

Impact Cavallini is coming off his best season in MLS with nine goals and one asasist in 24 appearances (16 starts) up front for Vancouver. The 29-year-old's future is still up in the air at the moment however and he could become a free agent if no new deal is agreed upon by the November deadline.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Brian White - Takes two shots in loss White took two shots (one on target) and created two chances in the 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United. He also made a clearance, an interception and won one of two t...

Impact White missed a few games here and there with minor injuries throughout the season but he will still be disappointed with his scoring return, which shrunk from 12 goals and five assists in 2021 to just four goals and one assist in this campaign. The 26-year-old will be competing for starts at center forward next season with the likes of Cristian Dajome and Deiber Caicedo (knee) once he returns from injury, as well as Lucas Cavallini if he stays with the club.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Pedro Vite - Takes two shots in finale loss Vite took two shots (one on target) and created a chance in the 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United. He also made two clearances in the match.

Impact Vite had a solid rookie campaign for Vancouver this season, tallying two goals and two assists in 24 MLS appearances (14 starts), mostly behind another striker in the front-three. The 20-year-old will hope to continue improving and developing in 2023 and he could nail down a consistent spot in the XI.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Cristian Dajome - Comes off bench in season finale Dajome subbed in for the final 20 minutes or so of the 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United, making a clearance in the match.

Impact Dajome's role in the team diminished this season as he only tallied two goals and four assists in 28 MLS appearances (18 starts), the lowest goals total of his Whitecaps career. That is partly explained by the fact that he spent more time at wing-back than he did in the front three in 2022, but the 28-year-old will need to prove he can still be relied upon consistently heading into the next campaign.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Alessandro Schopf - Not involved in season finale Schopf was not in Vancouver's match day squad for either of the final two games of the season.

Impact Schopf made seven appearances (five starts) in attacking midfield after joining the Whitecaps in the summer, but with only two shots and one chance created, he didn't bring much productivity when he played. The 28-year-old will presumably begin 2023 as a starter still, but he needs to show more end product in order to maintain that status.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Leonard Owusu - Contract negotiations ongoing Owusu's contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks with the player and have until Nov. 14 to make a decision about his future.

Impact Owusu made 19 MLS appearances (10 starts) this season for Vancouver but the arrivals of Andres Cubas and Alessandro Schopf pushed him down the depth chart a bit. If no new deal is agreed upon by the November deadline then the 25-year-old would enter free agency.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Sebastian Berhalter - Ends season as backup Berhalter was an unused substitute in the Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Berhalter finished his first campaign in Vancouver with 18 MLS appearances (11 starts) in defensive midfield, but he missed two months with a foot fracture he suffered in June and only started two more games from there on out. The 21-year-old will likely enter 2023 as a backup in the position behind Andres Cubas and Russell Teibert.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Andres Cubas - Takes two shots in season finale Cubas took two shots on target and won six of eight tackles in the 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United. He also made a block and two interceptions in the match.

Impact Cubas played well on both sides of the ball against Minnesota but it wasn't enough to earn a result that would have sent his side into the playoffs. The 26-year-old made an immediate impact upon joining Vancouver in April, starting in 17 of the club's final 20 matches of the season from defensive midfield and scoring his first MLS goal against LAFC in July.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Cristian Gutierrez - Ends season injured Gutierrez (groin) was not involved in the Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Gutierrez made 11 MLS appearances (six starts) this season before suffering a calf injury in June. The 25-year-old was able to return in August and play for the reserve side in MLS NEXT Pro before getting injured again at the end of the campaign, but he will just hope to be fit and available to challenge Luis Martins and Ryan Raposo for starts at left wing-back for the senior team in 2023.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Marcus Godinho - Contract negotiations ongoing Godinho's contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks with the player and have until Nov. 14 to make a decision about his future.

Impact Godinho made 23 MLS appearances (12 starts) mostly at right wing-back during his first full season in Vancouver, but he only started three games after the summer arrival of Julian Gressel. Godinho could enter 2023 as a backup option if he stays with the club, or he could move on in the offseason.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Ryan Raposo - On bench in season finale Raposo was an unused substitute in the Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Raposo had a bit of a breakout campaign with Vancouver, scoring the first two MLS goals of his career and recording an assist across 30 appearances (17 starts). But the May signing of veteran Luis Martins -- who ended this campaign with four consecutive starts at left wing-back -- could mean the 23-year-old Raposo continues mostly as a backup option in 2023 behind Martins on the left and Julian Gressel on the right.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Florian Jungwirth - Contract negotiations ongoing Jungwirth's contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks about a potential new contract for the player.

Impact Jungwirth kept two clean sheets in 13 MLS appearances (10 starts) this season, but he's behind all of Tristan Blackmon, Ranko Veselinovic, Javain Brown and Jake Nerwinski in Vancouver's center-back depth chart. The 33-year-old would become a free agent if no new deal is agreed upon by Nov. 14.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Jake Nerwinski - Contract negotiations ongoing Nerwinski's contract with the Whitecaps has run out but the club is still in talks with the player and have until Nov. 14 to make a decision about his future.

Impact Nerwinski kept five clean sheets in 24 MLS appearances (20 starts) this season as he mostly competed with Javain Brown for the final starting spot in Vancouver's back-three alongside Tristan Blackmon and Ranko Veselinovic. Nerwinski will become a free agent if the club decides not to extend his contract by the November deadline.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Javain Brown - Ends season on bench Brown was an unused substitute in the Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Brown kept six clean sheets in 27 appearances (22 starts) this season and he scored his first MLS goal against Nashville in July. The 23-year-old was mostly deployed in a back-three, transitioning away from the full-back positions he's played in the past, but he also didn't feature in any of Vancouver's final four games of the campaign as Jake Nerwinski replaced him in the XI.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Tristan Blackmon - Makes four interceptions in loss Blackmon made two clearances and four interceptions in Sunday's 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Blackmon kept five clean sheets and scored a goal in 28 MLS appearances (23 starts) in the back-three during his first campaign in Vancouver despite missing the entirety of May with a knee injury. The 26-year-old should remain a starter alongside Ranko Veselinovic in defense heading into 2023.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

Ranko Veselinovic - Makes eight clearances in finale Veselinovic made a block, three interceptions and eight clearances in Sunday's 2-0 Decision Day defeat against Minnesota United.

Impact Veselinovic took another step up for Vancouver this season, keeping nine clean sheets in 31 MLS appearances (all starts) and tallying a goal and an assist from the back-three. The 23-year-old should remain a starter in defense heading into 2023.

OCTOBER 25, 2022 • ROTOWIRE