Wilfried Nancy. Romell Quioto. Victor Wanyama. If things stay as they are, the contracts of these three important CF Montreal players will expire next December.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
But Olivier Renard advocates patience. Notably because anyway, Nancy and Quioto have one-year options attached to their agreements.
“We have time”, explains the sporting director and vice-president of the club during an interview of about forty minutes with The PressThursday.
We are in one of the Center Nutrilait classrooms. Outside, the club’s training has just started. Renard discusses his calm tone that we have come to know during more than three years spent in Montreal.
That’s what I said to Romell, like to several other players: I don’t discuss contracts with players now. I know the players, I was like them. If you argue now, you will change your mind.
Olivier Fox
He wants “everyone to finish the season well to go as far as possible”.
“We will have time in the off-season to see what we do with X, Y, Z. They have options. Having an option is a contract. »
He applies the same logic for his head coach. Even though the latter led this team mounted on a shoestring budget to a third-place finish in the East, at press time.
You mustn’t believe that Wilfried and I don’t talk to each other. Of course we talk. He knows my vision for the future, I know his. He is relaxed. I’m relaxed too. […] He knows that I am very happy with his work.
Olivier Fox
Why then not confirm this satisfaction by extending his contract beyond his one-year option? This is what this same Olivier Renard had done in 2021, after two consecutive defeats, while Wilfried Nancy still had the label of interim head coach.
“It’s not because we are very happy with the staff now that all of a sudden, I will give five years of contract, he underlines. I never will. Let’s see what will happen. We are very confident and happy. […] I want to see the squad improve. The potential of the players which improves. And then we discuss it. He’s not out of contract.
“In the past, the club had situations where they had to pay several coaches at the same time because of the dismissals. I’m not saying Wil is going to be fired. That’s not it at all. But in the future, you never know. »
Victor Wanyama, “a lovely person”
Victor Wanyama’s case is a bit more complicated. He has no options on his designated player contract. His salary weighs heavily on the payroll. And despite his pillar status as a defensive midfielder, at 31, he is not getting any younger either.
PHOTO JOE NICHOLSON, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVE
Victor Wanyama
“These are discussions that I must have with him, assures Renard. It will happen soon. Victor is a lovely person in the locker room. He brought a lot of things. »
If the sporting director notes with satisfaction that Wanyama “plays 95% of the matches”, he qualifies by speaking of his “age” and his “investment price”.
“Does the club prefer to invest again for this same position when we may already have other players who can play? Do we keep Victor because he is an important person in the locker room? We have already weighed the pros and cons of this. Afterwards, it’s up to me and Victor to talk about it. »
“There are several clubs on Ishmael”
Our interview with Olivier Renard takes place just minutes after Ismaël Koné confirmed Norwich’s interest in him at a press conference. A rumor that had surfaced a few weeks ago.
The sporting director persists in saying he cannot talk about Norwich. Even if he adds in the wake that he has “never had an agreement with a club”.
PHOTO GARY A. VASQUEZ, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVE
Ismael Kone
Koné said he was “grateful” for this first offer received from a European club. Fox corrects him.
I know it’s not the first club, already. There are several clubs on Ismaël, as there are several clubs on other players with us.
Olivier Fox
“The transfer window is not closed yet, advises the sporting director, referring to the fact that players can still leave MLS. […] We had other offers for him from other clubs as well. This is the truth. »
He adds that he will never stop a player from “following his dreams”, “because everyone [en serait] loser”.
“But the player knows he won’t leave for the price of a bottle of sparkling water. »
“Take the time not to take anyone”
Olivier Renard has been discreet in the summer transfer market. But he still acquired a forward, Chinonso Offor from the Chicago Fire, at the deadline last week.
“He’s a player I knew from Europe before,” said the sporting director. He could have come here even before Chicago. But there was a transfer price that was close to a million dollars. And there, it became an opportunity because the transfer is almost entirely paid for by Chicago. »
He describes him as a “bigger”, “taller” and perhaps “more explosive” attacker than Romell Quioto. “He’s fast, too. »
We have already written: the arrival of Offor is part of a longer term project than the simple end of the season here. Among other things because the group of attackers is already well stocked. Which means that Wilfried Nancy’s team didn’t necessarily improve before the playoffs.
“If we ask the coach the question, obviously he would like to have players who make more of a difference, or a very specific position. We know it and I know it. But maybe looking for an average player, with the budget we currently had, in a position where we could strengthen for next year, I preferred to take the time to take no one. Except the last day, where there was Offor’s opportunity. »
Development according to Olivier Renard
“I don’t care what other people do”
Olivier Renard persists and signs: it is not worth it for CF Montreal to join the MLS Next Pro, this new development circuit organized by MLS.
And this, even if the Bleu-et-noir will become next year the only team in the league not to be part of it.
“I’m going to be a little believed, but I don’t care what the others do, loose the sporting director during an interview with The Press. I know how much it costs to do this category, when we can very well train our players in another way and it costs us less. »
The inaugural MLS Next Pro season is underway. There are 21 teams, of which about fifteen are the reserve formations of MLS clubs. The average age of players is 21 years old.
CF Montreal, meanwhile, chooses to play its young players in its backyard. Its U23 team plays in the Premier League Soccer of Quebec (PLSQ) championship, a semi-professional circuit.
A decision that raised eyebrows at the start, recalls Olivier Renard. But he still does not budge today. Especially since the Montreal team does not dominate too much: it ranks 5e rank out of 12, with 7 wins in 13 games.
Everyone was laughing at the PLSQ. Me, I saw some matches where our young players were ridiculous. Before thinking that you are going to play against amateurs, well, first of all, you have to win all your matches. Then, maybe the club will say that this category is not a category for our young people.
Olivier Fox
He adds.
” The truth must be said. We don’t have 25 talents in the U23s who will all become starters in MLS.
“The good players, we follow them. I know it’s not the biggest competition. But we, as a club, it already costs us a few million less not to organize the MLS Next Pro. Although it would make a return of money too, if I’m being honest. »
Olivier Renard even affirms that certain teams tell him today that he “perhaps made the right choice”.
“You become another person”
The sporting director talks about money to justify his decision. But not only.
Apart from the PLSQ, there is also the Canadian Premier League (PLC), where he can send some good talent on loan. An interesting avenue, which notably allows these players to acquire a “personality”.
“My choice also comes from the fact that I know that we don’t have 25-30 players ready to make the first team. There are five or six that we can lend in PLC. With this fact, to move. That’s what people forget. Because with the MLS Next Pro, people would stay here, in Montreal. »
Me, I like it when they go and build their character somewhere else. That they not only become professional players, but adults.
Olivier Fox
He gives the example of defender Karifa Yao, loaned to the Calgary Cavalry. From goaltender Jonathan Sirois, with the Winnipeg Valor. And forward Sean Rea, at that same Manitoba club. These three players could make their mark in Montreal as early as next year.
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sean Rea
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Karifa Yao
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PHOTO ROBERT REYES NGO, PROVIDED BY CPL
Jonathan Sirois
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“The Sean Rea of now is not the Sean Rea of last year, underlines Renard, a statement that he also attaches to the other two. He was asked to be more decisive, with more assists and more goals. »
“Players like that, who are from Montreal, still with mom and dad, still in the little cocoon, they become men when they go there. Having to manage to eat alone, being alone in the evening, without the family. You become another person. »
The Woobens Pacius case
And speaking of PLC, there is another Montreal talent that is turning heads right now. Forward Woobens Pacius, who plays with the Hamilton Forge, has 10 goals there this year and ranks second among the top scorers.
PHOTO JOJO YANJIAO QIAN, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Woobens Pacius
Pacius is a former member of the Impact Academy who was invited to training camp before the 2021 season, without however reaching an agreement with CF Montreal.
“We knew the qualities of Woobens, assures Renard. I will even tell the truth: I participated in trying to find a club for him. He was coming back from two fairly serious injuries and deserved to play. »
Like Joel Waterman, the first player to make the leap from PLC to MLS, does Pacius have the potential to join the big leagues?
“Is he going to come back to us one day? Maybe. We’ll see. Will he continue in another MLS club? We keep the rights of the player. […] But not everyone can play with us either. »