Sports

Canadian teenager Davies joins Bayern for MLS record fee

26 of July 2018

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 13, 2018 file photo, Alphonso Davies of Canada speaks at the FIFA congress on the eve of the opener of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia. Bayern Munich has on Wednesday, July 25 agreed to sign Canada’s teenage forward Alphonso Davies from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps. The Bundesliga powerhouse says the 17-year-old Ghana-born Davies will join on Jan. 1, 2019 and that his contract will run through June 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file),FILE - In this Wednesday, June 13, 2018 file photo, Alphonso Davies of Canada speaks at the FIFA congress on the eve of the opener of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia. Bayern Munich has on Wednesday, July 25 agreed to sign Canada’s teenage forward Alphonso Davies from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps. The Bundesliga powerhouse says the 17-year-old Ghana-born Davies will join on Jan. 1, 2019 and that his contract will run through June 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich has agreed to sign Canadian teenage forward Alphonso Davies from the Vancouver Whitecaps in a transfer worth up to $22 million (18.75 million euros), a record for a Major League Soccer player.

The Bundesliga champion says the 17-year-old Davies, a naturalized Canadian born in Ghana, will join on Jan. 1 and his contract will run through June 2023. He turns 18 in November.

Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic says, “He offers a lot of promise for the future. Alphonso already possesses great ability, which is why a lot of top clubs were keen on him.”

The Whitecaps said in a statement the deal includes a transfer fee and additional compensation that could total more than $22 million, the most received by an MLS club in the league’s 23-year history.

Davies scored three goals for Canada in the 2016 CONCACAF Gold Cup.