Valour FC Makes Five Roster Moves

Valour FC has made its first roster announcements of the 2020 Canadian Premier League season, with the Winnipeg-based outfit confirming the re-signing of two players and the departure of three.

Rob Gale will be bringing back two young defenders in Raphael Garcia (20) and Yohan Le Bourhis (19), the latter of whom was signed in the fall season in the wake of Jordan Murrell’s suspension.

Le Bourhis played eight out of thirteen games following his arrival, while Garcia made some 16 appearances for Valour FC in his first professional season, recording two assists along the way. Gale is keen to see them continue to develop with his CPL side:

We are happy to have both these young defenders back in Valour colours for next season. Both Raph and Yohan experienced their first real taste of professional soccer and put in a lot of hard work, we look forward to seeing their progression in 2020. To those players not returning, we wish them the best in their future careers.

Rob Gale

The club has also confirmed that it is parting ways with journeyman defender Adam Mitter, Croatian midfielder Josip Golubar, and Toronto-born youngster Glenn Muenkat.

26-year-old English defender Adam Mitter saw the most playtime of the released players, making some 21 appearances for a backline which conceded a league-high 52 goals across the inaugural season.

Golubar had only made three appearances for the Winnipeg-based club before a knee injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. The departure of Mitter and Golubar frees up two additional international roster spots for Valour FC.

Muenkat had only racked up 407 minutes of playtime across 14 appearances under Rob Gale, failing to break into the first team in any significant manner. His departure was heavily expected after he was caught on video saying that he’d never be caught in Winnipeg again following the club’s final game of the season.

It’s not clear how much of a roster overhaul fans can expect to see from Rob Gale: there are some players like Michele Paolucci who are on multi-year contracts, with the gaffer also potentially bringing in two players from Cape Breton University through the CPL-U SPORTS Draft, too.

The league quietly confirmed earlier this month that Calum Ferguson was released by the club when the youngster began playing overseas in New Zealand, where Dylan Sacramento is currently plying his trade through an offseason loan.

Financial details regarding the contracts were not disclosed by Valour FC.

Source: Canadian Premier League