Laurent Ciman joined the Montreal Impact in the off-season prior to the 2015 MLS season. He arrived from Belgium's Standard Liege, where he made nearly 200 total appearances and won a Belgian Cup. On January 22nd, 2015, Montreal officially announced the signing of the center back on a three-year deal. He made his debut in February during a two-legged CONCACAF Champions League series against Pachuca. Montreal won 3-3 on aggregate based on away goals. Ciman made his MLS debut on March 7th in a 1-0 loss to DC United. In CCL play, Montreal advanced past Costa Rica's Alajuelense on a 4-4 aggregate away goals win once again. The Impact played Club America in the 2015 CCL Final. The first leg was a 1-1 draw, but America won the trophy in a 4-2 second leg win. It actually took until May 16th for Laurent Ciman to earn his first win in Major League Soccer, which also happens to be the match he scored his first goal in.
Ciman crashed the center of the box on a corner kick, simply redirecting his shot into the bottom corner, leading to a Montreal 4-1 home win against RSL. On July 25th, Marco Donadel whipped a free kick onto the head of Ciman, he nodded it home at the near post to defeat Seattle late on. In the 2015 Canadian Championship, Donadel's corner found another Laurent Ciman headed goal. Montreal ultimately lost the final to Vancouver. The Impact finished in 3rd place in the East, setting up a playoff date with Toronto FC. Montreal won the contest 3-0, but Ciman's side went out 4-1 in the second leg against Columbus in the following round. Laurent Ciman was named the 2015 MLS Defender of the Year. In addition, he was named to the 2015 Best XI and MLS All-Star team.
In 2016, Ciman entered his second season with Montreal. He was still a regular in Belgium's national team during this time, he made 20 total caps for his country. Ciman was also a member of Belgium's 2014 World Cup squad. In a June friendly versus Norway, Ciman scored his lone international goal, a match-winner in the box. The 2016 MLS season was another successful season for Montreal, as they finished fifth in the East and qualified for the playoffs once again. Less than four minutes into their knockout round match against DC United, Ciman steered home a first-time shot in the box. Montreal won 4-2, then 3-1 on aggregate against the Red Bulls. In the infamous Canadian Classique Eastern Conference Final, Toronto FC knocked them out after extra time in Leg 2, a 7-5 aggregate score. Ciman was named an MLS All-Star for the second time.
Laurent Ciman spent one last season in Montreal in 2017. He matched his 2016 clean sheet total, contributing to 5. The campaign was not as pretty as previous years, Montreal lost half the games they played and finished nowhere near a playoff spot. On December 12th, 2017, Montreal traded Laurent Ciman to LAFC in exchange for Raheem Edwards and Jukka Raitala. Edwards and Raitala had both been picked in LAFC's expansion draft earlier that day. Edwards ended up back at LAFC in 2021, and now the Galaxy. Ciman made his LAFC debut on March 4th, 2018. On April 22nd, he scored his first goal for LAFC, symbolically at Stade Saputo, and it was an absolute screamer. Ciman stepped up to a free kick from probably over 30 yards from goal, proceeding to knuckle it into the top left corner. What makes it even crazier is the fact that Ciman scored a free kick in the next match as well. LAFC opened Banc of California Stadium on April 29th against Seattle, now called BMO Field. In a 0-0 match, Ciman stepped up to the free kick with literally seconds to go. This time, the strike was not clean, but it knuckled enough for Stefan Frei to concede a howler at the death to send the new stadium into chaos. He will forever be ingrained in LAFC history after scoring the first ever goal at their stadium.
LAFC's inaugural regular season ended in third place in the West. Their season ended at their new stadium, a 3-2 first round playoff loss to Real Salt Lake. Ciman did score a third goal in the regular season, in a 2-0 victory against Columbus, another free kick. The strange part is the fact that Ciman was no longer on LAFC when the 2018 playoffs rolled around. After mere months in Los Angeles, Ciman joined Ligue 1 side Dijon for a fee of $500K. Ciman was named an MLS All-Star in 2018 as well.
Just months after leaving MLS, Ciman terminated his contract in France and joined Toronto FC for 2019. He became a usual starter, though was not chosen for selection in a number of games down the stretch. In the 2019 Canadian Championship, he was on the losing end again, against his former club in Montreal. Ciman played in 17 matches, starting 14 to finish out the regular season. Toronto finished fourth. In their first playoff game, they defeated DC United in extra time by a scoreline of... 5-1. TFC conceded late, before scoring four goals in the first half of ET. Laurent Ciman played every minute of Toronto's run to the cup. In the final, Greg Vanney made the bold decision to bench him for Omar Gonzalez, who just returned from injury. It didn't work, they lost 3-1 in the final.
Laurent Ciman finished up his career in 2020 with Toronto FC, playing just 530 minutes in the strange season. Toronto FC was upset in a big way, losing 1-0 to Nashville SC in round one. Once Ciman retired, he returned to Montreal. His wife and kids remained in their house in Montreal while Ciman was playing in Toronto during the pandemic. In 2021, Ciman joined CF Montreal as an assistant coach for the club. He continues to serve as an assistant coach for the club to this day. Ciman had an impressive defensive career in Major League Soccer, playing for three teams, earning DOTY, Best XI, and All-Star honors. Laurent Ciman rounds out the eighties, at #80 in the ranking.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS | CS |
2020 | TFC | 530 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
2019 | TFC | 1,262 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2018 | LAFC | 1,980 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
2017 | MTL | 2,700 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
2016 | MTL | 2,484 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
2015 | MTL | 2,405 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
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