Real Monarchs land Ibrahim Bancé on loan from ASEC Mimosas

Update, 10 a.m.: RSL Communications announced the move. He is joining Real Monarchs, not Real Salt Lake.

RSL assistant general manager Tony Beltran on Bancé:

“The Club is delighted to welcome Ibrahim to Salt Lake City and the Real Monarchs. Ibrahim is an exciting young attacking player with experience at the Club and International level. We look forward to seeing his continued growth within our organization.”

In what is a bit of an unexpected move, Real Salt Lake has apparently landed a midfielder on loan from his parent club in the Ivory Coast.

Ibrahim Bancé, 20, is joining RSL on loan, according to a tweet ASEC Mimosas.

Bancé has played for ASEC Mimosas through his career, starting at the club as a youth player, according to Transfermarkt. He spent one season on loan at Helsinborg in Sweden.

Information about Bancé is sparse, but a highlight reel shows him largely playing on the left and through the middle in a role that is not an all-out attacking one.

Unusually, this move has been announced by the parent club, meaning there’s likely not a whole lot of speculation about the “if” necessary here. Plenty of questions will be asked about the “why,” especially with the limited information about the player available.

We have reached out to RSL Communications for confirmation of the move.