TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Extension
UPDATE (March 17) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC have signed defender Tristan Blackmon to a contract extension through the 2023 season with options for 2024 and 2025, the club announced Thursday.
Blackmon, 25, has started all three regular-season matches for Vancouver in 2022 and has played a vital role in head coach Vanni Sartini's three-at-the-back system.
“Since joining the club in December, Tristan has proven to be a great addition and we are pleased to have him commit for the long term to our club and city,” sporting director Axel Schuster said in a release.
ORIGINAL (March 16) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC and defender Tristan Blackmon have agreed to a long-term contract extension, sources tell MLSsoccer.com.
Blackmon was acquired in a trade this winter, arriving from LAFC via Charlotte FC in the Expansion Draft for $475,000 in General Allocation Money. The new contract comes just before Blackmon returns to Los Angeles to face LAFC on Sunday (10 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, DAZN in Canada).
The 25-year-old spent the first four seasons of his career with LAFC, making 64 appearances and winning the 2019 Supporters' Shield. LAFC left him unprotected for the Expansion Draft, where Charlotte selected him and traded him to Vancouver. Since joining the Whitecaps this year, Blackmon has started all three games at right center back in head coach Vanni Sartini's three-at-the-back system.
Blackmon is the latest Whitecap to extend his contract in the last couple of months, following the likes of defender Javain Brown, striker Brian White and goalkeeper Thomas Hasal. Vancouver are at the beginning of their first full season under Sartini, who took over as interim manager last year and led the team on a memorable charge up the Western Conference standings into the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
The defender can play either right back or centrally and seems tailor-made for the wide center back spot in Sartini's system.
Prior to MLS, Blackmon starred at the University of Pacific and was selected by LAFC with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
