By Canadian Press

Gervais happy with CF Montreal squad despite loss of key players

Jan 31, 2025 | 4:04 PM

MONTREAL — CF Montreal president Gabriel Gervais says he’s comfortable with his squad after an off-season that saw several key pieces depart the Major League Soccer club.

Star midfielder Mathieu Choinière, attackers Josef Martinez and Matias Coccaro (out on loan) and right back Ruan are among the players who won’t be in Montreal in 2025, leaving big gaps to fill as the club looks to build on a 2024 season that saw it narrowly make the MLS Cup play-in round before losing on penalty kicks to Atlanta United.

Montreal has responded by signing six new players — three attackers, two midfielders, and a central defender. Players returning from loan, as well as trialists, draft picks, and youngsters hoping to graduate from the academy, could further add to Montreal’s depth.

“We have a lot of depth now with doubles at nearly every position,” Gervais said Friday afternoon at Complexe sportif Marie-Victorin, where CF Montreal has been training this week in between training camps in Florida.

“We’re very comfortable with starting the season now, but we are always looking for players to improve the squad. I said last time that we wanted to add some danger going forward and we believe that we have succeeded.”

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Needing to replace the holes left by Martinez and Coccaro, Montreal acquired designated player Giacomo Vrioni and German striker Prince Owusu during the last transfer window. Veteran attacking midfielder Fabian Herbers was also added with the most recent new face being 18-year-old Ukrainian prospect Hennadii Synchuk.

Synchuk was acquired from Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv, where he played his youth football, made his professional debut and appeared in 36 games. After fetching reportedly one of the highest fees in Montreal’s history, Synchuk signed a four-year, U22 Initiative contract with an option for the 2029 season.

“He’s going to bring us a whole new dimension,” Gervais said. “He’s super talented, he can dribble, he’s technical, and can play that final pass. He may be young, but we believe he can make an immediate impact.

“He was scouted as a U22 Initiative player, and he is the kind of player that this was created for. I’m not going to talk about how much was spent, but I said it on my first day that if we get the opportunity to go out there and get difference-makers like this … then we will.”

With reports linking both Nathan Saliba and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to Germany and Portugal respectively, neither have been made available for comment and Gervais declined to speculate on their future. Both players have been present and participating during training camp.

Montreal will hold one more training session on Monday where it will be making some more cuts to the squad before departing for Florida once again. There, the club will hold the second leg of its pre-season training camp before facing Atlanta on Feb. 22 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the season opener.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2025.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press

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CF Montreal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais listens to a question during a news conference in Montreal on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

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