Vancouver FC and Cavalry FC announced a pair of transfer moves on Friday, as Vancouver acquired winger Mikaël Cantave, while the Cavs added U-21 midfielder Maël Henry.
Cantave, a 26-year-old native of Ottawa, first signed for Cavalry midway through last season and went on to play 24 games for the club. He has 10 CPL appearances so far this year, with two goals.
Prior to arriving in the CPL, Cantave played at a number of different clubs around Europe, spending about six years with various teams in Spain, plus a season with Romanian side Chindia Târgoviște before returning to Canada in 2022.
Although born in Canada, Cantave represents Haiti internationally. He’s played 12 times for the senior national team, including at the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup and during the most recent World Cup qualifying campaign.
“We are excited to add quality, experience and a dangerous, goal-scoring winger with the signing of Mikaël Cantave,” said Vancouver head coach Afshin Ghotbi.
“[Cantave’s] international and CPL experience will be a welcomed addition to our young selection and will give us the boost in attack needed to reach our target in our first CPL season.”
Cantave has also signed a new multi-year contract with Vancouver FC, the club confirmed.
Meanwhile, Vancouver will be sending 19-year-old Maël Henry to Calgary. Henry, previously a member of the CF Montréal academy, has made three appearances for VFC this year in his first season as a professional. While with the CFM academy, Henry played 13 PLSQ matches for their U-23 team in 2022 and scored five goals.
The Montreal native has recently been part of the Canadian national youth team setups, having represented Canada at the 2019 Concacaf U-15 Championship and the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, where he scored a goal against Saint Kitts and Nevis.
“Maël is a young player of very high potential,” said Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “We felt we needed another player that could acquire more U21 minutes for us over not only this season, but the next few seasons. He’s a player that our recruitment department has done a lot of scouting on and feel that he has a high ceiling for us to develop. Maël is a creative player with a strong feel for the ball and intelligent game sense. He likes to connect possession and create opportunities for others, whilst also being clever with his defensive pressing moments.”
Henry is Cavalry’s third U-21 Canadian on a standard player contract, joining Goteh Ntignee and Gareth Smith-Doyle.
In addition to these moves, Vancouver FC also announced on Friday that the club has agreed with Emmanuel Robe to mutually terminate the French striker’s contract. Robe made four appearances for VFC in 2023.
Cantave and Henry will be eligible to play for their new clubs immediately.
Both teams will be in action over Canada Day weekend: Cavalry take on Valour FC in Winnipeg on Saturday, and Vancouver host York United on Sunday afternoon.
