Gale Provides Valour FC Squad Status Update

In the midst of what has become a very dramatic offseason of late, Valour FC head coach Rob Gale has revealed new information about his club’s offseason roster moves to Winnipeg Free Press reporter Taylor Allen.

Gale states that he has signed four new players with national team experience who will be announced by Valour FC in the near future. He didn’t go into any specifics, so it’s not known if he meant the Canadian national team or just national team experience in general.

With the club rumoured to have had a poor locker room atmosphere last season, this may be the opening veteran international Iain Hume was looking for regarding a prospective move to the Canadian Premier League. Still, there’s no shortage of other potential signings that would fit the bill, too. For instance, recently-released Forge FC players Quillan Roberts and Bertrand Owundi have also made international appearances.

With the last few weeks of rumours suggesting that several key members of the squad may be outbound – and with the club having only confirmed three players for the 2020 season so far – there hasn’t been much evidence of new players coming in until now, so the news that four new players are inbound is sure to be a relief for fans of the Winnipeg-based club.

The gaffer also touched on the most oft-rumoured outbound players, stating that Marco Bustos was absolutely not going to FC Edmonton despite an earlier rumour and declaring that ‘excellent discussions’ were underway with the player. When contacted by Northern Tribune, Marco Bustos declined to comment regarding his status with Valour FC.

Last month, rumours also broke out that Michael Petrasso was en route to York9 FC, which would allow him to return to his hometown. According to Allen’s summary of his talks with Gale, Petrasso is still in contact with the club, though he’s also still hoping to land a potential deal in Europe.

Similarly, Louis Beland-Goyette was supposedly also hoping for a potential jump overseas or to the MLS, and appears to be outbound from the club amidst rumours of a potential move to the Halifax Wanderers. If Petrasso, Beland-Goyette, and Bustos all depart, there’ll be some significant shoes to fill at IG Field.

Gale also stated that the club has exercised Tyler Attardo’s contract for the 2020 season. While some higher level clubs have expressed interest in one of the league’s youngest goalscorers, he states that no official offers have arrived as of yet.

With the club having only re-signed two members of its original roster while parting ways with four more this offseason, there are evidently a lot more updates to come from Valour FC ahead of the 2020 season. In an earlier radio interview, Gale suggested that fans can expect to see at least half of the inaugural season’s roster return, despite what other rumours have indicated.

Whatever happens, fans will be hoping that the 2020 Valour FC squad will be able to improve upon its seventh and fifth place finishes throughout the 2019 split-season campaign, and that’s a task that sounds difficult if the likes of Bustos, Beland-Goyette, and Petrasso may depart in the same offseason.

Source: Taylor Allen (via Twitter)