With 12 players signed over the last 3 months, Valour FC’s squad is beginning to take shape, as Rob Gale constructs not just a team, but a football club that will be very involved and representative of its community. The 4 Winnipeggers signed to the team, Tyler Attardo, Dylan Sacramento, Dylan Carreiro, and Tyson Farago, represent key pieces for the present and future as the city of Winnipeg rallies around its new football club. Despite having a good chunk of the squad ready to go however, Valour FC are still awaiting their big signing, the marquee one that will see them cause a splash in the headlines as the inaugural season approaches.

Of course, the squad is not of poor quality. The likes of Skylar Thomas, Dylan Sacramento, and Jordan Murrell are accomplished players that will be key pieces for the club moving forward, but with all 3 lacking experience in top leagues or for the national team, they don’t really fit the ‘marquee signing’ bill. We also aren’t quite sure how the likes of Stephen Hoyle and Josip Golubar, 2 of the 4 internationals signed to date, will fare in this league. They may very well prove to be stars, but since none of us truthfully knew of them before they signed, they also have not been considered marquee signings.

As historic, passionate, and charming as Winnipeg is, the city and province have not produced the same quantity of players at Canadian Premier League level as areas of the country such as southern Ontario and coastline BC have. This has made it an easier task for the likes of Pacific FC and Forge FC to get their hands on national team-level players, as many of them grew up in these areas. Pacific have made huge splashes in recent weeks, signing Marcus Haber and Marcel De Jong, who have a whopping 83 international caps between them. Forge FC’s Kyle Bekker remains one of the biggest signings the league has seen, as he too has plenty of international caps as well as MLS experience.

There truthfully isn’t any player from Winnipeg that Valour could sign that would be considered a marquee signing, so the club has 2 options to choose from: sign a Canadian player of high quality who comes from an area of the country that does not possess a CanPL team at the moment, such as Saskatchewan or Quebec, or sign an international player to fit the bill instead.

Can now confirm 2010 World Cup golden ball winner Diego Forlán has in fact been in serious talks about a move to #CanPL. But he has offers elsewhere so far from done deal…turns out it’s more than just a rumour. pic.twitter.com/JsAmtiigDI — Ryan Brandt (@Ryan_Brandt) February 17, 2019

The links to 2010 World Cup golden ball winner and Atletico Madrid hero Diego Forlan last week were greeted with amusement from many Canadian Premier League fans, but it seems this deal is a genuine possibility for Valour FC. Although Forlan is 39 and likely would only play a part for 1 season, he would be a superb addition for the league to gain some traction in the foreign market, and he would also be a valuable mentor for the younger players in the Valour squad. Forlan has spent the last few years as sort of a journeyman, playing in India and Hong Kong, as he is rumoured to be looking to play in as many countries as he can before his body finally concedes to retirement. The only technical issues with this deal would be attention from elsewhere for Forlan, and perhaps finances as well. If Rob Gale and co can get the deal over the line however, it would be a major coup.

Fernando Meneses is another name that Valour have been heavily linked with in the past, but the possibility of this signing has decreased as time has passed. Despite their interest in signing the former Chilean international, as of a few weeks ago, the deal has not advanced significantly and is now looking unlikely. Meneses also would have been a nice addition, as the 33-year-old has plenty of experience in top divisions around South and Central America along with 16 caps for Chile.

With 2 months left till kick-off in the inaugural Canadian Premier League season, you can expect a boatload of signings in within the next few weeks as the squads start to round out in time for training camps next month. Valour FC will still be on the lookout for a big name to add to their squad to counter the major signings that the likes of Pacific FC, York 9, and Forge have managed to pull off. With some very notable names already being linked however, it seems this big signing is closer than we might think.

Like what you read? Become a Patron.

Mahith Gamage Website An avid football fan right from his first experiences with the sport, Mahith Gamage has been dabbling in football journalism for a few years now, creating his own world football blog and podcast, freeflow football, whilst featuring frequently on many other football media outlets, covering European football. With the start of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, Mahith began coverage of his hometown club, Valour FC, through NSXI. He enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions of the beautiful game to fellow football fanatics in Canada and throughout the world, using articles and tweets, thriving particularly on tactical analysis and player scouting. You can find him tweeting about world football day and night, at @mahithgamage.

Share with a Friend Facebook

Twitter

Reddit

LinkedIn

WhatsApp

Telegram

Email



Like this: Like Loading...