Jan 7 CF Montreal Acquire Jalen Neal, Giacomo Vrioni, And More As They Get Into The Transfermarket | OneFootball

CF Montreal have entered the off-season transfer market! CF Montreal are not known for making earth shattering signings, but they are known for utilizing the internal transfer market in MLS and finding under utilized talents. Once again Montreal has done that with two of their moves. First, Montreal has acquired centerback Jalen Neal from the Los Angeles Galaxy for $650,000 in GAM, an international roster spot, and the Galaxy retain a sell on %. Neal is a 21 year old U.S. international who is coming off of a MLS Cup title with LA in 2024. Across all competitions in 2024, Neal played roughly 1,600 minutes for the club. To me, Neal was a starting option centerback next to Maya Yoshida until the arrival and emergence of Carlos Garces in the summer. The other inter-MLS move that Montreal made was the acquisition of Albanian international striker Giacomo Vrioni from the New England Revolution for $50,000 in GAM and New England retaining a sell on %. Vrioni was a Designated Player for the Revolution and will continue to be one on Montreal’s roster. The 26 year old is a former Austrian Bundesliga Golden Boot winner but, for New England failed to make the same impact. Last season Vrioni had 12 goals and 3 assists across all competitions but was never the consistent striker that New England needed. He finished with 27 goal contributions in about 4,500 minutes for New England. Now, both Neal and Vrioni will get more of an opportunity to play on a roster under Laurent Courtois heading into his second season in charge.

Vrioni’s roster spot is easily freed up also as CF Montreal has loaned striker Matias Coccaro to Liga MX side Atlas FC. The 27 year old had 5 goals and 1 assists in roughly 1,100 minutes played for Montreal in 2024. Coccaro came over as one of Montreal’s larger signings last off-season but things didn’t really pan out over the course of the 2024 season.

CF Montreal made two more signings to bolster their roster for 2025. First, the club has signed MLS veteran utility man Fabian Herbers. The 31 year old primarily plays as a CM but can play across the starting XI either deeper in the midfield or even a bit out wide.  For the Fire in 2024, Herbers  played roughly 2,200 minutes with 7 goal contributions. Courtois primarily played in a 3-5-2-1 formation last season and I can easily see Herbers sliding into any six of those starting slots. Along with Herbers, CF Montreal have added another midfielder in NCAA standout attacking midfielder Michael Adedokun.  Adedokun just won the MAC Hermann Trophy which is awarded to the best player of the college season. He had 22 goal contributions last season for the Ohio State University. The Nigerian looks like a player that could adapt well to the professional game and with Montreal, I think he could get a ton of minutes early on.