Whitecaps acquire speedy striker Ibini

It’s confirmed: striker Bernie Ibini is joining the Whitecaps, pending a physical. The news broke Monday night in the Australian media.

The speedy striker was under contract with Club Brugge of Belgium, but played this past A-League season on loan with Sydney FC.

According to a statement from the Whitecaps, he has agreed to an MLS contract through 2018, with a club option for 2019. He will occupy an international roster spot and officially join the club’s roster pending receipt of his Canadian work permit and medical exam.

Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said he rates Ibini as “big, powerful, and can play as a wide player or as a centre forward.”

The 24-year-old Australian has been used as a second-half sub mostly this season, adding pace late in the game.

He did, however, miss this weekend’s A-League Grand Final with a hamstring problem.

It has been reported that injury, suffered in the semifinals a week and a half ago, could keep him sidelined for up to two months. That could possibly hold up the move.

Though he scored only three times in 20 games this season, Ibini was a fan favourite for Sydney FC. He also played the 2014-15 season with Sydney, that time on loan from Chinese club Shanghai Dongya. He played only 10 games in China, as he was granted a return in late 2013 to Australia after the death of his father. He returned to the Central Coast Mariners, the club he’d played with for four seasons before his move to Asia.

He was born in Nigeria but moved with his family to Australia when he was a child.

He signed with Brugge in 2015, and played one season there but never got into a league match after breaking his leg in pre-season. He didn’t fully recover until after moving back to Sydney on loan at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

The season-opening MLS transfer window closed Monday evening.

The Whitecaps visit the Houston Dynamo on Friday (6 p.m., TSN, TSN 1410), the final road game in a month-long stretch. Vancouver follows with three games at home, starting with Sporting Kansas City on May 20.