8 CPL Thoughts: Mikaël Cantave lands in Vancouver, the art of transfers and Wanderers wrap up

Although the transfer window doesn't officially open until July 5, clubs have been busy working the phones in an attempt to sort out their rosters.

I don't pretend to have all the details but sources have told me to expect a lot of movement across the league.

Some clubs have already announced moves, none busier than Cavalry FC who have already made three key announcements. Vancouver FC has also been busy, while other clubs are working diligently in the background as we near the half-way mark of the season.

The competitiveness amongst the league has made it so clubs can't sit still, less they become stagnant and tumble down the table. We've already seen Atlético Ottawa try to shake things up given their poor start with the signing of legendary Spanish midfielder Alberto Zapater.

So where are things sitting across the league? From stadium news to transfer rumours, here's some storylines ahead of the window.

8 CPL Thoughts:

1. Atlético Ottawa's signing of Zapater sent shockwaves throughout the CPL. Without a doubt, his signing represents a major upgrade in midfield for the club and a turn-key star for the league given his experience and profile in Spain. It was also perhaps the worst kept secret in Canadian football as reports across Europe indicated the deal had been done for weeks. But I think the club wanted the news to leak so as to build anticipation leading up to the official announcement. Heck, even club CEO Fernando López got in on the fun and sent a mischievous tweet teasing Zapater's signing with a flurry of emoticons. The club also signed 23-year old Atlético de Madrid youth academy forward Rubén de Campo and inked Kanata-native Omar Darwish to a development contract. All in all, Ottawa did a good bit of business and announced to the league that they aren't rolling over. This is transfer drama at its finest.
2. Which brings us to Cavalry FC and the José Escalante saga, a good news story which has somehow taken a turn for the worst. The club was trying to do right by the player in facilitating a move to be closer to his family in Honduras. However, I think they were taken aback when FC Motagua announced Escalante's signing on social media. Since then, Cavalry put out a terse statement saying on June 26, the club granted Escalante a leave of absence but that he was still under contract until the end of the season. "Any reports to the contrary are false," read the announcement. FC Motagua countered by putting out their own release clarifying they had reached personal terms with the player and were in the process of finalizaing a loan agreement with the club. So what happened? Cavalry has not responded to my comment requests.
3. Speaking to sources this week ahead of the transfer window, some interesting points were made about players being slower to graduate or move on from the CPL than anticipated. It starts with clubs not knowing what they want. Specifically, CPL clubs feel caught between wanting to keep players to stay competitive and trying to win big on transfers, resulting in players being held back. Some clubs often place outsized price tags when approached, exceeding MLS transfer fees. The result is larger clubs are more hesitant to pull the trigger on moves given the financial numbers and small sample size of the CPL. Basically, don't ask for too much or you'll impede a player from moving to greener pastures. To some degree, I wonder if this mentality has impacted the Escalante situation. Cavalry don't want to lose him and although the player has agreed to terms with his new club, the details of the loan are unclear. Are Cavalry being sticky here or is Motagua trying to get away with robbery? It's hard to tell but we'll see if things get cleared up in the coming days.
4. Cavalry was also involved in another transaction, this time exchanging 26-year old winger Mikaël Cantave for Vancouver FC's U-21 midfielder Maël Henry. With the rumour mill in full swing, I checked in with Vancouver's communications team ahead of the announcement last week but they were mum on the subject. Speaking to sources after the fact, both clubs are happy with this deal. The move had been in the works for a  couple weeks and wasn't so much that Cantave wanted out of Cavalry but more so Vancouver was a better fit. Cantave wanted more playing time (and it's likely he'll feature regularly in Vancouver's starting XI), Cavalry needed to start packing away U-21 minutes and so a deal came together last weekend. Look for Cantave to provide some much needed explosiveness on Vancouver's wing.
5. But Cantave is only the first of Vancouver's expected moves. It's no secret the club's veterans haven't delivered and we're going to start seeing the fallout. While it's been frustrating to see some of the club's big names falter, there's still lots of good news stories with players like T.J. Tahid leading the way from a youth perspective. They've also been unlucky with injuries so its up to management to surround their young core with good professionals. "I feel were going to get better, there’s a summer (transfer) window coming, and we’re going to make some additions,” said head coach Afshin Ghotbi after the club's loss to Ottawa. “We want to get some more maturity and quality on this team, and hopefully, that can put us in a position to fight for a playoff spot.”
6. The Halifax Wanderers might also be making a move. According to sources, the Wanderers are trying to figure out their roster so as to be able to add another attacking player. No name was given but I see the logic. With the termination of Kosi Nwafornso's contract, they cleared up a international roster spot for Morelli's return. However, it'll be a while before Morelli is match fit after more than a year on the sidelines. Adding another attacker could be insurance if the former CPL Player of the Year doesn't pan out how everybody hopes. I reached out to the club to confirm the information but they won't comment on rumours. Coincidentally, they announced Morelli will fly into Nova Scotia tomorrow morning.
7. Speaking about rumours, Wanderers founder and owner Derek Martin mentioned the word stadium on Global News and the province lost its mind. Specifically, Martin was asked about an update on a new stadium and he said the following: "Listen, we're getting very close. I think in the next few months we'll be able to speak about it publicly, what we're proposing to do and what we'd like to do. I think, as we've been preaching since we started this, we've taken the risk to prove the concept works. I think we've proven it works. So now it's just taking those next steps to give the citizens of Halifax, really, the proper venue they deserve." Now, the prospect of a new stadium is exciting but is still far, far away from becoming a reality. HRM Councillor Waye Mason recently issued an update of his own about the Wanderers Block. In it, he highlights that the various tenants of the block have been in serious conversations and are presenting to the city's community planning economic development committee. The Wanderers are slated to present sometime this summer. If I learned one thing from covering the proposed CFL expansion to Halifax it's that the stadium piece is always the biggest hurdle.
8. I just wanted to take a moment to highlight the fantastic piece Charlie O'Connor-Clarke wrote about the importance of the CPL to Canadian football for Canada Day. Here's one line which stuck out to me in particular: more than 100,000 minutes of professional playing time have been given to U-21 Canadians across over 400 regular season matches since the CPL's inception. It's an incredible stat and I encourage you all to read Charlie's fantastic piece.

Cheers,

-WN

Cover Photo Credit: Vancouver FC