Pacific FC announced on Friday the signing of forward Marco Bustos to a guaranteed contract through 2026, marking a return to the club for the 2021 CPL Champion who was an integral piece of the Tridents’ squad from 2020 to 2022. Bustos, 28, racked up 15 goals over 63 appearances in all competitions for the Tridents over his previous two years with the club. He is the second player from the Pacific side named 2021 CPL Champion to return to the club this week, alongside defender Kadin Chung. “Marco is a player I’ve known for a long time now,” said Pacific head coach James Merriman. “We know his motivation, his ambition and the standards that he brings to our team. He’s a player with more than 200 professional games now coming into his prime.”
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Bustos, re-joins the Tridents from Värnamo of the Swedish first division Allsvenskan, where he scored three goals in 37 appearances over two years with the club. A well-known force in the CPL, Bustos was part of the league’s inaugural season with Valour FC of his native Winnipeg, Man. in 2019, before joining Pacific for the COVID-impacted 2020 season. A product of his hometown’s Garden City CC and FC Northwest youth programs, the five-foot-six goal scorer joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy in 2011 at the age of 15. He made his professional debut with the ‘Caps in 2014, spending time with the first team and Whitecaps II before going on loan to Mexico’s Zacatepec FC. He played a season with Oklahoma City’s United Soccer League (USL) club OKC Energy, making 15 appearances. Bustos earned six caps for the Canadian men’s national team, after also representing his country at the U-17 and U-20 levels. “Bustos wants to win and play his best football and we are very happy to have him back at the club,” said Merriman.