Now that he has returned to B.C. to play for Vancouver FC, Alejandro Diaz is in the market for a two-bedroom residence, somewhere in the Lower Mainland, that can accommodate his active seven-month-old son.

“He’s growing so fast,” Diaz laughed.

His return comes less than a year after the high-scoring 27-year-old Mexican-born striker was transferred, from Victoria Canadian Premier League franchise Pacific FC, to Norwegian second tier first-dvision club Sogndal, in August of 2022.

On Tuesday, July 11, Vancouver FC announced a deal has been struck that will see Diaz play for the Langley-based CPL expansion team.

When Diaz was playing for Victoria’s Pacific FC in 2021, he led the club to their first-ever championship.

In 2022, he had another outstanding season with Victoria, scoring 13 goals in 18 league matches to become became the club’s all-time top goal scorer before moving to the Norwegian team, for what said at the time to be the second-largest transfer fee in CPL history.

High-scoring forward Alejandro Diaz has returned to B.C. to play for Vancouver FC, the team announced Tuesday, July 11. (Beau Chevalier/Vancouver FC/Special to Langley Advance Times).

Now that he is back in B.C., on the roster of a Langley-based expansion team that is half-way through its first season, Diaz described himself as “super happy and excited.”

“I came here to do my best, to work hard,” Diaz told the Langley Advance Times.

“And also, hopefully, I can score a lot of points for them, and hopefully this year we can make it to the championship,” Diaz added.

He said his tour with the Norway team sharpened his skills.

“Tactically, I think I improved a lot,” Diaz commented.

“Over there, it was a little bit faster. The football is like a little bit quicker. So I think I can I can bring that here.”

Vancouver FC Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi observed that Diaz has proven he “can not only score but dominate in attack in the Canadian Premier League.”

“With his addition, we believe we greatly improve our chances to qualify for the playoffs and beyond in our inaugural season,” Ghotbi said. “Goals win games, and Diaz scores them in bunches.”

Diaz is the only player to register two hat tricks in league history and is one of just five CPL players to score three goals in one match.

A 2022 analysis posted to football tactics and analysis website mastermindsite.com described Diaz as “one of the most exciting, flamboyant, energetic, tactically intelligent, heroic figures of the Canadian Premier League … with an incredibly vast skill set that extends to all phases of the game.”

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