Halifax Wanderers loan Tomas Giraldo to York United for Clément Bayiha
It was announced on Tuesday that the Halifax Wanderers and York United swapped a pair of players via loan, sending U-21 player Tomas Giraldo to York Lions Stadium in exchange for 25-year old winger Clément Bayiha.
Giraldo joined the Wanderers in 2023 after a first team contract with MLS side CF Montréal. He made 20 appearance for the club last season, notching two goals across 817 minutes. His contract has an option for 2025 but York United will have the ability to buy Giraldo permanently at any time during the loan deal. Giraldo has made one appearance for Halifax in 2024.
Meanwhile, Bayiha — who also played for CF Montréal, registering 25 MLS appearances — joins the Wanderers on loan after signing with York United last year. He suited up 30 times for the Nine Stripes in 2023, netting two goals and two assists. Bayiha's contract is set to expire at the end of this season; he previously played in the USL Championship and in Norway's top flight.
Analysis
Given Halifax's woeful start, loaning Giraldo to York United helps to shake up the squad dynamics while giving Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar a more seasoned option in Bayiha.
Although he featured with some regularity in 2023, Giraldo never really seemed to have Gheisar's full trust last year. Giraldo is a young, talented midfielder but is still navigating the highs and lows of the professional game, something Gheisar spoke about several times last season. He made some progress in 2023, including netting his first professional goal, but with Halifax's work cut out for them thanks to a historically bad start, Giraldo seemed unlikely to get many minutes.
To make matters worse, injuries — which have limited Giraldo to a single appearance this season — effectively curtailed any momentum he could have carried over from last season.
Bayiha's best assets are his pace and dribbling and he could effectively slot into Gheisar's system as a wing-back option. The Wanderers currently sit at the bottom of the table, in no small part due to their lack of goal scoring. Adding Bayiha gives Gheisar another option to jump start a sputtering attack that has only scored four goals in six league matches.
Interestingly, Bayiha and Wanderers defender Julian Dunn were teammates in Norway.
Turning to York United's perspective, Bayiha was a Martin Nash signing through and through and with the gaffer gone, became the odd man out. Moving Bayiha creates space for another player to step in while giving York United an additional U-21 option with match experience in Giraldo (although it should be noted defender Noah Abatneh is expected to carry the U-21 load this season). York United have also kept their options open as they can buy Giraldo at any time during the loan deal.
Given Bayiha's experience, he hasn't exactly lived up to expectations at York Lions Stadium and with a new manager set to be announced in the next little bit, it made sense to move on from the 25-year old. He should be a motivated player heading to the East Coast as his contract expires at the end of the year.
Cover Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
