Sporting director Olivier Renard sets tone for 2021 with offseason moves
There’s no question that CF Montréal has more depth than it did when it kicked things off just a year ago today. And that’s exactly what sporting director Olivier Renard wanted.
In a frenzy of moves that began in early December, Renard has made changes and additions to every part of the field, leaving his coaching staff, led by Thierry Henry, with more options than it did during its first year the helm.
“My job is to create a team that will be as competitive as possible,” said CF Montréal sporting director Olivier Renard. “For me, it’s important to have players with different profiles available. Tactically, it gives the coach more options when deciding what formation is to be used depending on the game.”
Defensively, the haul began when the Club brought in defenders Zorhan Bassong, a young promising Canadian international, and Kamal Miller, also a young Canadian international, with MLS experience to boot. They were joined by MLS veteran Aljaz “Kiki” Struna, a towering centre-back who came from Houston in exchange for Maxi Urruti.
The addition of Struna, however, paved the way for the moves that were to come; with Urruti’s salary officially off the books, it gave Renard a lot more room to maneuver.
“We found multiple solutions in one solution,” explained Renard. “We wanted to add a defensive player of a certain level and with experience, and Struna checked those boxes. The trade gave us what we wanted from a sporting standpoint, but also allowed us to save on an important salary, which allowed us to move on other players.”
In midfield, the Club first announced the arrival of Djordje Mihailovic, a creative midfielder with loads of MLS experience despite his young age, who has the potential to be one of the league’s best playmakers under the right tutelage. He was recently joined by Egyptian midfielder Ahmed Hamdi, for whom Renard has high hopes.
“I’ve been following Hamdi for a few months,” added Renard. “One of my contacts recommended him to me. I think he can be a very nice surprise to this team. I think it will take him time to adapt to the change of environment, but sometimes these things can happen quickly under the right circumstances.”
And finally, we get to the attacking unit. For many supporters, the biggest splash of the offseason as of now came in the signing of Norwegian striker Bjørn Johnsen. The towering, 6’5” striker has experience in leagues around the world, scoring goals regularly throughout his career. His specialty, which consists of getting on the end of crosses into the box, is something the Club has lacked for a long time.
He’ll be joined by recently signed Sunusi Ibrahim up front, Mason Toye, and also Romell Quioto, who shined as a striker last year under Thierry Henry’s tutelage despite playing most of his career on the wing.
“Bjørn Johnsen fits the profile we were missing,” explained Renard. “He’s the type of player who can play in a specific formation at times. Ibrahim is completely different; he is quick, small, and lively, and he can also play on the wings. We all know Romell liked playing on the wing before coming here, but he proved he can play up top. What’s important in the choices we made is the diversity of players available to the coaching staff.”
Add Joaquin Torres as well to that list of attacking options, the Argentinean joining the Club on loan from Newell’s Old Boys just a few days ago.
“He’s someone I’ve been watching for a while,” said Renard. “We were missing this type of player. Last year, we had a lot of bigger players who can bring the ball forward with speed, but we were missing this type of player, who can provoke defenders and create something in small spaces. He’ll bring a lot of creativity to our interplay.”
The Club also signed four additional players stemming from the Academy before the beginning of the new year: Jean-Aniel Assi, Nathan-Dylan Saliba, Rida Zouhir and Sean Rea. Three Homegrown players will also be loaned out to Canadian Premier League clubs for the 2021 season to play more minutes and return with important experience under their belts.
The transfer window is still open, and it will remain that way until May. Whether or not more moves are on the horizon remains to be seen but if one thing is certain: this club will look a lot different once training commences in the next few weeks.
New players
Kamal Miller
Bjørn Johnsen
Aljaz Struna
Ahmed Hamdi
Joaquin Torres
Sunusi Ibrahim
Djordje Mihailovic
Zorhan Bassong
