Pavel Bucha, a midfielder, will be signed by FC Cincinnati
FC Cincinnati will welcome 25-year-old Pavel Bucha from FC Viktoria Plzeň, a team in the Czech Fortuna Liga. Bucha, a flexible midfielder who can play in several positions, is said to be vying for the position behind Obinna Nwobodo. Throughout his more than 200 professional games, he has accumulated 35 goals and 28 assists.
Viktoria Plzeň does use a 3-4-3/3-5-2 formation, which is also what FCC coach Pat Noonan does. As Junior Moreno, an MLS free agent, becomes available, Bucha seems like a very good first-day substitute.
After a tough workload, Bucha will arrive in Cincinnati. Plzeň played in 30 games and over 1,800 minutes in the first half of the 2023–24 season. With 12 straight wins and a trip to the knockout stages, Plzeň easily won the Europa League Conference League.
Bucha has six goals and one assist for the campaign thus far this year. Though he has played in offensive midfield and left midfield, central midfield has been his primary position. Bucha was probably chosen over Moreno, the Venezuelan, in large part because of his offensive qualities and possessions.
After progressing through the Slavia Prague junior system, Bucha made his professional debut in the 2017–18 campaign. Bucha left Prague to play for FC Viktoria Plzeň, a rival team, following a dispute over a contract. For the first part of the 2019–2020 season and the second half of the 2018–19 season, he was on loan to FK Mladá Boleslav.
Bucha had 36 appearances for Mladá Bolesla, contributing 7 assists and 8 goals in scoring. After the winter break, he returned to his parent club, where he started the final ten games of their season before COVID halted it. Before suffering a metatarsal injury, the midfield player started to establish himself as a regular for the Czech team in the 2020–21 campaign, playing in 22 of the team’s league games. After overcoming an injury, Bucha would appear in the team’s final three league games.
For the midfielder, the 2021–22 campaign was absolutely spectacular. Bucha played in 37 games and put in over 3000 minutes to assist Plzeň win the Fortuna Liga. CSKA Sofia was the opponent Plzeň faced in the third round of the Europa Conference League that season.
Thanks to their title, Plzeň, a Czech team, advanced to the UEFA Champions League qualifying stages for 2022–2023. After playing in 45 games and around 3,700 minutes in 2022–2023–Bucha managed to get past FC Sheriff, HJK Helsinki, and Qarabag FK to make it to group play.
Bucha’s Plzeň were placed in a Group of Death with Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, and Inter Milan, the reigning German champions. In their second group encounter against Milan, the midfielder received a notorious red card via VAR. The midfield player, who had just been taken out of the game, arrived late and with a big smile on his face. Plzeň, who had lost all six of his games, was eliminated from the group. All three of their home games, nevertheless, were competitive.
Despite qualifying for the Fortuna Liga championship round (playoffs), Plzeň’s regular season in 2022–23 was not as successful. Bucha did appear in every league game but one, starting 27 of the 30 games. After finishing third overall, they were able to secure a spot in the Europa League Conference League.
Bucha was a rock for the young teams of the Czech Republic. In the 2021 UEFA U21 Championship, he started three games and played the entire duration in each. After two draws against Italy and Slovenia and one loss against Spain in group play, that Czech squad was eliminated.
Although he hasn’t made his senior debut yet, the midfielder was called up to the Czech Republic senior team for a late 2021 World Cup qualifier against Belarus.