FC Edmonton Announces Eight Roster Cuts

FC Edmonton has officially announced the departures of eight players.

The departures of Oumar Diouck and Randy Edwini-Bonsu were already known, with the Eddies now confirming that James Marcelin, Ajeej Sarkaria, Bruno Zebie, Dylon Powley, Philippe Lincourt-Joseph, and former MLS player Tony Tchani would not be getting contract renewals, either.

It is extremely difficult to be saying goodbye to players I have worked with all season and in some cases for many years. While we still have some ongoing negotiations we have had to make some difficult decisions to work within our cap and to improve some areas of the squad.

Jeff Paulus

Today’s announced roster cuts do not mean that the other members of the squad are in the clear: negotiations with them are still ongoing, but anything can change as Paulus looks to see what he can work with within the as-yet-undisclosed salary cap imposed by the Canadian Premier League.

The cuts are indicative that a massive rebuild is on the way from Jeff Paulus, who saw his club slide from a third-place finish in the spring to a sixth-place finish in the fall, along with a goalscoring drought that has now resulted in the likes of Diouck and Edwini-Bonsu parting ways with the club.

With former Calgary Foothills keeper Dylon Powley now cut, 2018 CPL-U SPORTS draft pick Connor James is presently the only goalkeeper on the roster. The club had previously called up academy product Chris Ezoua as an emergency goalkeeper, though given that his focus is on his post-secondary education it’s likely that the club will look elsewhere for another keeper.

Source: Canadian Premier League