TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Roster Update
VANCOUVER, B.C. – David Ousted has played his last game with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Questions have swirled around the Danish goalkeeper’s future after he lost his place as the team’s starter towards the end of the season. Now, after 144 overall appearances in MLS, Ousted revealed he will be leaving the club and the city he has called home since the summer of 2013.
“I will not [be back], no,” Ousted said at the Whitecaps’ end-of-season media day on Tuesday. “The manager and the club told me in June that they weren’t going to pick up my option, so obviously I’ll have to figure something else out.”
The writing appeared to be on the wall for Ousted after he lost the starting goalkeeping job to New Zealand number one Stefan Marinovic down the stretch and into the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The 32-year-old, who was entering an option year with the Whitecaps after signing a lucrative new deal with the club after the 2015 season, has been a mainstay of Vancouver defense and an almost ever-present since making his debut in Portland in August 2013.
Ousted said that the club told him in June that he would have to take a pay cut in order to remain in Vancouver.
“You have to ask them,” Ousted said when asked if his status solely came down to money. “I was told back in June that they weren’t going to pick it up and I was going to have to take a pay cut to stay here. I didn’t think that was fair with the way I performed, so obviously we’ll have to part ways.”
Ousted doesn’t yet know his next step. He said he’ll take the next few weeks to assess what’s best for him and his family. Although Europe would seem a likely option, he’s isn’t averse to staying in MLS, where he has excelled over the past few seasons.
Despite the many happy memories Ousted had with Vancouver, the way his final few months at the club played out left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn’t quite how he’d hoped his time with the Whitecaps would come to an end after the service he has given the club over these few years.
“I’m disappointed, especially with the last couple of months here,” Ousted admitted. “I’m proud of what I’ve done this year and the way I played. Obviously, I didn’t get to finish it, which I would have loved, but it is what it is. It’s the business part of this game and it’s disappointing. But I’ve have four-and-a-half great years here.”
Despite knowing for months that he was playing out his last few months in Vancouver, Ousted said there was never any ill feeling towards Marinovic and his only thoughts were to go out on a winning note with the Whitecaps.
“I was 100 percent committed to performing,” Ousted said. “I wanted nothing more than to finish on a high here. I think 28 games I played this season and I’m very proud of where I helped put the team and my commitment has been to this organization and this club for four-and-a-half years, both on and off the field. I never had in my mind that I was leaving. I wanted to finish off properly and I think I did so.”
