Etienne Barbara will be playing in the Major League Soccer this year after signing a deal with Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps.

Barbara has been training with the Whitecaps for the past weeks after they acquired the MLS rights from another Canadian club – Montreal Impact.

The Malta international striker was top scorer and Most Valued Player in the NASL in 2011 with twenty goals in twenty seven games last year with Carolina RailHawks. He is the fourth RailHawks player to join the Whitecaps. The others are goalkeeper Brad Knighton and midfielders Jun Marques Davidson and Matt Watson.

In Vancouver, Barbara will be re-united with Martin Rennie who was his coach at the RailHawks for the past two years.

Speaking about the Maltese striker, Rennie said “Etienne’s a bit like Camilo in the fact he can dribble and take people on, and he’s also got pace. He’s a guy who can start the game or come off the bench and make an impact. He can play wide, he can play through the middle, he’s also good at getting in behind people, so he brings a lot to the table.”

Former Qormi striker Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo had joined Vancouver Whitecaps in March 2011.

The Whitecaps squad is not short of strikers as besides Barbara and Camilo, it includes Eric Hassli, Davide Chiumento, Atiba Harris, Long Tan and new signings Sebastien Le Toux and Darren Mattocks.

Etienne Barbara will only be able to make his debut in two months’ time as he is ruled out injured.