Former CPL MVP Tristan Borges rejoins Forge FC on loan from Belgian team
Borges made 33 appearances in 2019 for Forge, winning CPL's Golden Boot
Tristan Borges, a former player of the year in the Canadian Premier League, is returning to Forge FC.
The CPL champion announced Friday a loan deal with Belgium's Oud-Heverlee Leuven that will see the attacking midfielder rejoin the Hamilton-based side for the 2021 Canadian Premier League season.
Hamilton sold Borges to the Belgian team in January 2020. At the time, CPL commissioner David Clanachan called Borges' move a "landmark transfer" for Forge and the league.
Borges has represented Canada at the under-17 and under-20 level and won his first senior cap for Canada against Barbados in January 2020.
He played for SC Heerenveen's under-21 side in the Netherlands from 2016 to 2018 before returning home for the CPL's inaugural season in 2019. With Portuguese bloodlines, he has a European passport that eased the move abroad.
"We're very happy to welcome Tristan back to our club," Forge director of football Costa Smyrniotis said in a statement Friday. "The co-operation with OH Leuven has been very good here, with the common, important goal of furthering the competitive development of Tristan over this upcoming year."
