Roster Refresh: All CPL Transfer Movement From This Week

The last week has seen so much player movement throughout the league that we thought it best to do a big club-by-club catch-up as each team prepares for the home stretch for the 2025 Canadian Premier League season.

This last seven days have seen everything from an all-time star talent returning to the league to a termination for ‘attitude issues’, amongst a flurry of other inbound and outbound movement, too.

Let’s dig in on all the roster action from coast-to-coast:

Atletico Ottawa

Atletico Ottawa has been perhaps the quietest of the Canadian Premier League clubs this week, having already secured the arrival of Club America loanee Antonio Alvarez earlier this month. The attacker has been easing into things for Ottleti, coming off the bench in their last two matches.

The red-and-white did confirm that U SPORTS prospect Jason Hartill will remain with the side through to the end of the season despite having tallied just three minutes of game time thus far. The 21-year-old Carleton Place native made his club debut against Valour, though he’d made his professional debut a year prior when he was with York United after being selected through the ’24 draft.

Cavalry FC

The obvious headliner here is that Cavalry has managed to land the return of Dutch defender Daan Klomp following a quiet chapter in Belgium for the big defender. On Canadian soil, Klomp had a productive four-year spell under Tommy Wheelon Jr that saw him not only help the side to its first national championship last season, but also saw Klomp bag back-to-back defender of the year awards and a league MVP award, too. The defender is a big presence at both ends of the pitch, and is expected to be a huge boost for the remainder of the club’s title-defense season.

The side also has plenty of movement for its university prospects: defensive midfielder Max Piepgrass, who has tallied nearly one thousand minutes this season alone, will stay with the club through to the end of the season. Having been a squad player through multiple seasons now, he’s no stranger to the side.

Less utilized has been attacking midfielder Owen Antoniuk, a former Whitecaps prospect who has also plied his trade with Atletico Ottawa and the Calgary Foothills. After making six appearances this year, he’ll return to university, though the club has retained his U-SPORTS rights for next season.

Also departing is English goalkeeper Daniel Clarke, who was drafted as a backup option after having previously been with the Halifax Wanderers in 2024.

Forge FC

The reigning regular season champions have signed Greek central midfielder Christos Liatifis on two-and-a-half deal that includes an option for the 2028 CPL season. The 20-year-old arrives with some good experience at his back, having made 57 appearances for the U-19 squad of Greek giant Panathinaikos, while also earning ten caps for Greece at the U-17 level.

The club has also confirmed that university prospect Amadou Kone will remain with the club through to the end of the season on his CPL-U SPORTS contract, having made nine appearances off the bench for the side this year.

Returning to university are 21-year-old goalkeeper Dino Bontis (who made his professional debut in a win over Vancouver FC) and 22-year-old forward Maxime Filion, who tallied three goals and looks a good prospect for the future. Forge has retained its U SPORTS rights for all three prospects.

Halifax Wanderers

Italian midfielder Giorgio Probo has wandered out of Halifax after a mutual termination to his deal. The 26-year-old former Creighton University star made eleven goal contributions since debuting out east last year, but the HFX Football Post reports that Probo’s early east coast ending was reportedly brought on due to ‘attitude issues’ that began in preseason but progressed through to this midseason tipping point.

Both of the Wanderers U SPORTS prospects, midfielder Joven Mann and goalkeeper Sinclair Astridge, will return to the university but will have their U SPORTS rights retained by Halifax, allowing them to skip the draft next year. Mann made a single four-minute appearance this season, while Astridge went unselected.

Pacific FC

James Merriman has already had a busy month of transfer movement: the Tridents somehow bagged the return of star player Alejandro Diaz on loan from their rivals (by somehow, we mean both clubs share the same ownership group), while also bringing in Matthew Baldisimo, Ahmad Mansour (who had a tough spell last match), and Roshawn Juhmi.

This week saw the confirmation that two high-profile university prospects would be returning to their studies for the remainder of the season, through Pacific has smartly retained their rights. Defender Eric Lajeunesse made fourteen appearances this season, but has already made 39 overall for Pacific and is a first-team caliber player. Also departing for school is Fin Tugwell, a first-year Trident who made three 90-minute appearances for the Tridents backline over the last month, two of which saw them collect wins.

York United

The Nine Stripes just brought in 20-year-old Portuguese-Canadian midfielder Jesse Costa on a deal that runs through ’26 with a club option for a further year. He’s a low-risk, high-ceiling recruit arriving through the Brazilian giant Corinthians’ youth pipeline after featuring for German side VfL Wolfsburg at the U-17 and U-19 levels.

Costa has donned the armband for Canada at the youth level, though he’s also featured for the Portugal U-18 side. The central midfielder clocks in with a good technical level and solid pedigree, so the real test will be how he slots into full first-team club football.

With the Nine Stripes having already brought in Liga MX veteran Leonel Lopez a few weeks ago, it’s fair to say the Pasquel Brothers have made some solid-looking additions this summer window, at least going towards the attacking end.

U SPORTS prospect Christian Zeppieri will be returning to university after the big midfielder tallied just three appearances this season. He had actually earned more minutes last season under Martin Nash and Benjamin Mora, with York United declining to retain his rights for next season – so he’ll be draft eligible for any other takers.

Valour FC

The Winnipeg CPL outfit has had some drastic roster updates throughout he last week. The first suggests that Jonathan Viscosi’s injury may be worse than feared – Dos Santos referred to it as having an ‘uncertain timeline’ – with CF Montreal loaning goalkeeper Emil Gazdov to Valour for the remainder of the season.

The 21-year-old was in the middle of his maiden MLS season with Montreal, riding the bench four times after arriving from Pacific on what was a club record deal for the latter. The young shotstopper had established himself as a CPL starter during his time with the Tridents, collecting fifteen clean sheets through 49 appearances. Now, it looks like he’ll be in a goalkeeper tandem with Eleias Himaras with Valour this year.

Some terrible news for the defensive line in front of him, though: right-back Zachary Fernandez will be out for the season after suffering an ACL injury in the club’s five-nil loss to Forge. The 23-year-old was a key defensive addition who had just arrived from Halifax this year, and still has a club option for 2026.

The club also announced that this year’s number one CPL-U SPORTS Draft pick, Jevontae Layne, will remain with the club through to the end of the season. He’s made thirteen appearances for the side thus far, scoring one goal. Midfield prospect Wesley Wandje has been let go after tallying just 71 minutes of game time, and will be eligible for the CPL-U SPORTS Draft next year.

Vancouver FC

The big transformation for Vancouver FC took place before this week: interim head coach Martin Nash has the Eagles on a hopeful trajectory, with the squad seemingly rebounding well from a head coach swap. They seem more defensively organized with a more consistent attack, whilst players like Elage Bah seem born anew entirely.

Hugo Mbongue is off to a hot start on loan from Toronto FC, while veteran striker Alejandro Diaz was shipped out on loan to rival side Pacific.

This week’s Vancouver FC roster updates are solely in the U SPORTS category: midfielder Thomas Powell will remain with the side for the entire season, with the Coquitlam native having made eleven appearances in his sophomore VFC season. The Eagles will lose out on Henri Godbout and Mehdi Essoussi, who return to their respective universities, though Vancouver FC has retained their U SPORTS rights for 2026.

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With all eight clubs seeing activity over the last week, the rest of the season might see some shifts to the power rankings. There’s a solid influx of talent in Canada’s top flight, so it’ll be interesting to see how all the player movement impacts the standings when the finish line for playoffs approaches in the fall.