Chrisnovic N’sa Joins York9 FC

Canadian Premier League side York9 FC has officially added U-21 Player Of The Year nominee Chrisnovic N’sa to its ranks on a multi-year deal.

We reported yesterday that the 21-year-old defender was on his way to the York Region side, where he joins his younger brother Felix in a roster that appears in the midst of sizable change.

He’s a player who has shone in the first few years of the CPL and we are delighted to have signed him. I watched and re-watched our Island Games clash with Halifax too many times and every big moment for them seemed to feature this one chap with the number six on his back: from the start of the game and stopping Ryan Telfer to winning that free-kick late-on that ultimately hurt us and saw them make an eventual run to the final. I see Chrisnovic at the very top of the list of young Canadians ready to play overseas. We need to give him a platform here and support that ambition as his development is ultimately good for the future of soccer in Canada

Angus McNab

N’sa got his professional start with the Halifax Wanderers last year after developing with the Montreal Impact Academy. In his two seasons playing under Stephen Hart, the full-back made 30 appearances, with nine of them coming from an Island Games bubble tournament that saw him exclusively deployed as a right-back.

He helped the 2020 Wanderers squad fight to its first-ever CPL Final, with the club ultimately being dispatched by reigning champions Forge FC 2-0. It was only earlier this week that the club revealed that Chrisnovic was departing from the side after declining a contract offer out east.

Prior to today’s announcement, Chrisnovic revealed he had been stewing playing outside of Canada despite offers from multiple CPL clubs. After deep conversations with his family and agent, it was ultimately York9 FC that sold him on both the club’s vision and the opportunity to play with his younger brother.

When we were younger, we always told ourselves we were going to play on the same team. But I never thought it was really going to happen: I was telling Felix that just to make him happy. So, when I heard that York9 was interested in the both of us, I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I’m so excited to live in The 6 and ‘The Wall’ is ready to fight for the club, the region and the supporters

Chrisnovic N’sa

Given that McNab said that ‘When Chrisnovic N’sa is available, you do all you can to secure his services’, one imagines that N’sa arrives on an improved contract, too.

McNab is instilling a wave of youth at the York Region side: all of its existing teenage contingent are on multi-year deals, with recent additions Ryan Lindsay, Julian Ulbricht, and Jordan Wilson all set for multi-year stays, too.

The club is in need of defensive depth following the retirement of Iron Man Luca Gasparotto, with capable defender Roger Thompson’s future still uncertain. If the club exercises its option on Fugo Segawa, it will have left-back depth behind Chrisnovic’s fellow Quebecer Diyaeddine Abzi. The right flank – where N’sa can be deployed – has both Morey Doner and Ijah Halley under contract for the upcoming season.

N’sa becomes the second full-back in the side to have received a U-21 Canadian Player of the Year nomination, with Abzi having received one following the inaugural CPL campaign. The date of the 2020 CPL Awards is still unknown.

Where N’sa will truly be deployed remains to be seen: he proved capable as a centre-back in the inaugural CPL campaign, but he truly shined at The Island Games as a dedicated right-back. All-told, he’s a big defensive additional for a Nine Stripes side eager to improve upon what was ultimately a frustrating Island Games campaign.

The financial details of Chrisnovic’s contract were not disclosed by York9 FC.