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Atlético Ottawa signs young Canadian defender Loïc Cloutier

Atlético Ottawa announced on Monday the signing of Canadian defender Loïc Cloutier, on a two-year contract with a club option to extend in 2027, ahead of the 2025 Canadian Premier League (CPL) season.

Cloutier, 20, joins Ottawa after previously earning an invite to the club’s pre-season training camp in 2024 and training regularly with the club’s first-team squad through the season. He has concurrently amassed competitive minutes while representing Ottawa’s Ligue1 Québec affiliate OSU Atlético, making 19 appearances for the side last season.

“It is exciting to see Loïc commit to us as a club,” said Drew Beckie, Head of Youth Development, Atlético Ottawa. “By competing with our OSU Atlético side in Ligue1 Québec and training with our first team full-time in 2024, Loïc competed in high-level games week in and week out while benefitting from the demands of competing in a professional environment daily. He developed both his maturity and his skills as a defender and, in signing a first-team contract, Loïc is proof of the opportunity our development pathway can provide.”

Cloutier is a right-footed, ambidextrous defender capable of playing all defensive positions. He is a graduate of  Major League Soccer (MLS) side CF Montréal’s academy program and former captain of the club’s U-23 side, who represented the squad 20 times during the 2023/2024 season, featuring in every match he was available for. He has twice clashed with Atlético Ottawa over the past three seasons when he represented CF Montréal’s U-23 side in a pair of pre-season friendlies.

His performances have earned Cloutier experience within Canada’s youth national team programming. He debuted with Canada’s U-20 national team in April 2022.

“I feel very good, very excited to get going. It’s been a long offseason but I just want to get started, and be with the team again. [I’m ready to] get the season going and play some football.” said Cloutier. “Last year wasn’t easy, being on the field, and being around the guys in the dressing room was good but coming into game days, and not being able to play [was hard]. I worked hard last year and got the reward, but now the work must continue.”

Cloutier joins Gabriel Antinoro and Noah Abatneh as Atlético Ottawa’s U-21 Canadian players for the 2025 CPL season.

“We need to keep offering these opportunities to players and trust in our pathway to give other local and non-local Canadians opportunities to become professionals,” said Beckie. “Loïc is a smart defender who organizes the team well from the back to the front and can break lines with his passing. He has a bright future.”