Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Gustavo Bou was born February 18, 1990, in Concordia, Entre, Rios. He is a forward in Major League Soccer.

He started his career in the youth ranks of Club Comunicaciones Concordia. At the age of 14, he tried out for River Plate and joined their reserve team. While playing in the River Plate reserve team, head coach Diego Simeone offered Bou a contract to join the professional team. On March 23, 2008, Bou made his debut for River Plate against Vélez Sarsfield. He entered in the 43rd minute of the match, replacing Mauro Rosales.

While Bou was with River Plate, he was called-up for the 2007 U-17 World Cup in Korea, but was eventually left out due to a partial tear of a lateral ligament and meniscus.

Bou scored his first goal in a match against Newell's Old Boys on the 12th week of the Torneo Apertura 2008, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He scored again against San Martín de Porres, in the 2009 Copa Libertadores; the match ended in a 3–0 victory. He then scored against Chacarita Juniors in a Clausura 2010 in 3–2 River Plate victory.

Bou played sparingly during the 2010/2011 season, a season which saw River Plate relegated to the second division. During the 2011-12 season, Bou played 2 games in the second division as a substitute coming off the bench. In the summer, he scored his fourth goal in River Plate, against Boca Juniors in a friendly match.

At the beginning of the 2012–13 Primera B Nacional season, Club Olimpo head coach Walter Perazzo requested to sign Gustavo Bou on loan to reinforce the team. As River Plate head coach, Matias Almeyda did not have Bou in consideration for play, so Bou was loaned to Olimpo. He debuted on August 27, 2012, in week 3 of the tournament against Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy, a game that ended in a 0–0 draw. On week 4, he scored his first goal in a 4–0 win against Aldosivi where he also gave an assist. After 10 weeks without scoring, Bou scored his first professional brace against Huracán. He additionally added an assist in Olimpo's 3-2 win. In week 11, he recorded a goal and an assist against Banfield in Olimpo's 3-0 win. Bou was named man of the match for his efforts. On week 12, against Nueva Chicago, he scored a goal to finish the game in a 2–1 victory. In the next week, against Instituto, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 game, putting Olimpo at the top of the league standings.After a long scoring drought, he managed to score once again in the team's 3–0 win against Sarmiento de Junín.

Gustavo Bou signed with Liga de Quito on loan from River Plate for the second round of the 2013 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A , scoring his first two goals on 21 July against Barcelona Guayaquil.

At the beginning of 2014, Gustavo 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.

In August 2014, Gustavo Bou signed as a free agent with Racing Club, upon head coach Diego Cocca's request.

On June 26, 2017, Bou joined Liga MX side Tijuana, who were looking for replacements for Milton Caraglio and Avilés Hurtado. 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 scoring 10 goals and giving 6 assists, being one of the pillars of the team despite his injuries.

In 2018, Racing Club brought Bou in on loan to replace Lautaro Martínez, who had just joined Inter Milan. Bou arrives on a loan for one year for 2 million dollars to the club that marked his explosion as a footballer in his career, to replace the young scorer.

His first game was played against his former team, River Plate, for the 2018 Copa Libertadores, in a 0–0 draw. His first goal on his return to La Academia was against Atlético Tucumán, after an excellent pass from him that left Augusto Solari alone, he hooked before the departure of defender Gabriel Risso Patrón and touched the middle where Bou had to push it against an empty bow, since the Dean goalkeeper, Cristian Lucchetti was badly stopped in that action. On date 3 of the Argentine Super League he assists Pablo Cuadra to establish the 3–0 in favor of Racing against Patronato de Parana. A date later, he returned to assist Augusto Solari, to score 2–0 against Rosario Central, after entering 5 minutes earlier. Against San Lorenzo de Almagro he assisted his partner, Lisandro López, by chance, after going to pressure the rival defender and before his rejection the ball bounced off Bou to assist him.

On March 31, 2019, he was crowned champion with Racing Club (second title with the institution), despite the fact that he was no longer in the club, although he was considered a participant in the title. In the 2018/2019 championship he scored only 1 goal (Against Atlético Tucumán in a 2–2 draw) and gave 3 assists (to Pablo Cuadra against Patronato de Paraná 3–0 victory, Augusto Solari against Rosario Central 2–0 victory and Lisandro López in the victory with San Lorenzo de Almagro 2-1).

In 2019, Gustavo decided to terminate his contract at Racing to the surprise of his fans and return to Mexico due to lack of continuity and poor football performance shown. In his first game, he scored again after 2 months. In that 2019 season, he played 19 games where he had 11 goals, on the other hand, in the general total of the club he had 55 games with 21 goals, his personal account in Mexico.

On July 10, 2019, Bou signed as a designated player with the New England Revolution for a club-record transfer fee, reportedly in the $6–7 million range. The Boston Globe reported that the deal included $12 million in transfer fees and guaranteed compensation; and could rise to "exceed $16 million" with bonuses and options.

In his debut game, Bou contributed an impressive volley in a 4–0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. On July 27, 2019, Bou scored his second New England Revolution goal. After a one-two pass with Cristian Penilla, he found the back of the net and scored in a 4–1 victory over Orlando City SC. Bou concluded the 2019 season with 9 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances. He added 5 more goals and 3 assists in 14 appearances in 2020.

On November 20, 2020, Bou scored his first playoff goal for the New England Revolution with a game-winning strike in the 95th minute to win 2-1 in the 2020 Eastern Conference Playoff Play-In Round at Gillette Stadium against the Montreal Impact. Bou continued his playoff scoring 8 days later, notching a brace in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final against Orlando City SC. Bou scored New England's game-winning second goal, and their third goal, in their 3-1 win. Bou paid tribute to Diego Maradona after his second goal, laying an Argentine flag on the ground, pointing towards the sky, and kissing the flag.