Gustavo Leonardo Bou ( , ; born 18 February 1990) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as a forward for the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

in Major League Soccer. Bou's professional career began in 2008 at the age of 18 with River Plate, under coach

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

. During his career he has played in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. While playing in Argentina, Bou was on the team that won the 2007–08 Toreno Clasura tournament, the

2011–12 Primera B Nacional The 2011–12 Argentine Primera B Nacional was the 26th season of second division professional of football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed; the champion and runner-up were promoted to Argentine Primera División. Club information ...

with River Plate, the 2014 Torneo Transición and 2018–19 Primera División with

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

("Racing"). He was the top goal scorer in the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. ...

with eight goals. Bou is often referred to by his nickname ''La Pantera'' ("The Panther"). He has a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

of a panther on his left arm in honor of the moniker. When asked about its meaning in a 2019 interview, Bou compared his playing style to that of a panther, saying, "A panther is always ready to pounce on an opportunity... A panther does not leave. It hides."

Career

River Plate

Bou started his career in the youth ranks of

Club Comunicaciones Club Comunicaciones is an Argentine sports club based in the Agronomía district of Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera B Metropolitana, the regionalised third division of the Argentine football league system History ...

Concordia. At the age of 14, he joined River Plate's reserve team, where manager

later offered him a contract to join the senior team. On 23 March 2008, Bou made his debut for River Plate against Vélez Sarsfield. He played in the 43rd minute of the match, substituting for Mauro Rosales. While Bou was with River Plate, he was called up for the 2007 U-17 World Cup in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, but was unable to participate due to a partial tear of a lateral ligament and meniscus. Bou scored his first goal in a match against

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

on the 12th week of the Torneo Apertura 2008. He played sparingly during the 2010-11 season, and the team was later relegated to

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

(Argentina's second division).

Olimpo

At the beginning of the

2012–13 Primera B Nacional The 2012–13 Argentine Primera B Nacional was the 27th season of second division professional of football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed; the champion, runner-up and third-placed team were promoted to Argentine Primera División. Cl ...

season,

Club Olimpo Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized i ...

signed Bou on a loan. He debuted on 27 August 2012 against

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, wh ...

. In week 4, he scored his first goal for Olimpo.

Liga de Quito

Bou signed with

Liga de Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...

, on loan from River Plate, for the second round of the 2013 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, scoring his first brace (two goals in the same match) on 21 July against Barcelona Guayaquil.

Gimnasia La Plata

At the beginning of 2014, Bou signed with Gimnasia La Plata on a six-month loan from River Plate. At the end of the loan, he became a free agent.

Racing Club

2014 season

In August 2014, Bou signed as a free agent with Racing Club. This was a controversial move, as both Cocca and Bou were represented by the same agent, Christian Bragarnik. He played his first match on 26 August against

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. Bou scored his first goal with Racing on 22 September against

2015 season

On 17 January 2015, Bou scored the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

(three goals in the same match) of his career against Boca Juniors in the Summer Tournament held in the city of Mar del Plata, and also won the player of the match award for that performance. Bou made his Libertadores Cup debut against Deportivo Tachira where he was named the best player of the match for his hat trick and two assists.

2016 season

In the summer before the 2016 season, Bou refused to practice with the club after Blanco rejected a $5 million offer from Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bou reached an agreement with Racing to be sold if an $8 million offer was made for his contract. Later,

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

rejected an $8 million bid from

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their hom ...

for Bou, who voiced his frustration with Racing president Víctor Blanco for violating the agreement by rejecting the offer. Blanco later clarified that the $8 million figure was an after-tax amount and that Racing would therefore need an offer in the $10 million range, however, Bou did not agree with that interpretation. Although he continued to be a Racing player, he stopped making appearances later in the season due to injuries and conflicts with the president of Racing Víctor Blanco.

2016-17 season

Despite the controversy over his contract, and with some changes in the club's staff, Bou signed a new contract expiring in 2020.

Tijuana de Mexico (2017–2018)

On 26 June 2017, Bou joined Liga MX side

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. On his decision to join "Xolos", Bou stated "I made my decision after the coaching staff called and made it clear it wanted to bring me here and the effort the front office made to get me here. I really value that." According to various Argentine media sources, Tijuana paid roughly $7 million for Bou's transfer. During his time in Mexico, he played 36 games, scored 10 goals and made six assists.

Second stint at Racing Club

2018–2019 season

In 2018, Racing Club brought Bou in on loan for one year for $2 million to replace Lautaro Martínez, who had just joined

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. His first game was played against his former team, River Plate, for the 2018 Copa Libertadores. On 31 March 2019, he was awarded champion with Racing Club for the second time, even though he was no longer in the club. In the 2018–2019 season he scored only one goal and made three assists.

Return to Tijuana

In 2019, Gustavo surprised many when he terminated his contract with Racing and returned to Tijuana. During this stint he played 19 games, scoring 11 goals.

New England Revolution

On 10 July 2019, Bou signed as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

with the New England Revolution for a club-record transfer fee, reportedly in the $6–7 million range. ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' reported that the deal included $12 million in transfer fees and guaranteed compensation; and could rise to "exceed $16 million" with bonuses and options. Bou concluded the 2019 season with nine goals and two assists in 14 appearances. He added five more goals and three assists in 14 appearances in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. Bou paid tribute to

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

after his second goal, laying an

Argentine flag The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by Manuel Belgran ...

on the ground, pointing towards the sky, and kissing the flag.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

River Plate * Argentine Primera División: 2007–08 (Clausura) *

: 2011–12 Racing Club * Argentine Primera División:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

New England Revolution * Supporters' Shield:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Individual * MLS All-Star:

* MLS Player of the Month: July 2021 *

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bou, Gustavo Leonardo 1990 births Living people Argentine footballers People from Concordia, Entre Ríos Sportspeople from Entre Ríos Province Association football forwards Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Olimpo footballers Club Tijuana footballers New England Revolution players L.D.U. Quito footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Ecuadorian Serie A players Liga MX players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate soccer players in the United States Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States