MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced on Tuesday the acquisition of French fullback Amadou Dia, from Sporting Kansas City, in return for forward Cameron Porter. Dia will be added to the Impact roster upon receipt of his International Transfer Certificate.
Dia, 23, has played 32 career regular season games and 2,134 minutes, including 22 starts, since being selected by Sporting Kansas City in the first round, 20th overall, in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.
"We took this decision in order to improve our depth at the fullback position. Amadou is a young player that has already gained a good amount of experience in the last year and a half and will provide us with some depth for the second half of the season," said Impact technical director Adam Braz. "With the number of strikers on our roster, it would have been difficult for Cameron to break through and gain significant minutes. This provides him the opportunity to go somewhere and hopefully have a chance to gain some minutes. We want to thank Cameron for his services on and off the field and wish him the best of luck moving forward."
Dia started nine of his 10 appearances with Kansas City this season, while also starting three games with Swope Park Rangers in the USL.
In his MLS rookie season, Dia made 22 appearances and played 1,317 minutes, including 13 starts. He recorded his first career assist on September 27, 2015, against the Seattle Sounders FC. He then started and played 120 minutes in Sporting KC's 7-6 penalty kick shootout loss against the Portland Timbers in the Western Association Knockout Game, after a 2-2 draw through regulation. He also started four U.S. Open Cup games, recording one assist.
He made 70 appearances during a four-year collegiate career at Clemson, contributing four goals and six assists. As a senior in 2014, he led the Tigers to the school’s first ACC soccer championship since 2001 en route to reaching the Round of 16 in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.
Internationally, Dia has represented the United States at the U14, U18 and U20 levels. He holds both the American and French citizenship.
Transaction: Montreal Impact acquires defender Amadou Dia from Sporting Kansas City in exchange for forward Cameron Porter.
AMADOU DIA
Position: Defender
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 150 lbs
Date of Birth: June 8, 1993, Nantes, France
Nationality: France/United States
Last club: Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
Acquisition: July 12, 2016
