CF Montreal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais listens to a question during a news conference in Montreal on Jan. 10, 2023.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
CF Montreal president and chief executive officer Gabriel Gervais is setting a clear objective for the upcoming season.
“Win a trophy,” Gervais said Friday at Montreal’s training complex. “Whether that’s the Canadian Championship, the Leagues Cup, the MLS Cup. By winning a trophy, we return to the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
“We haven’t participated since 2022. That competition is in our DNA, and we want to get back there.”
The Major League Soccer club kicks off its 2025 season preparations this weekend with player medicals, followed by a training camp in Tampa from Monday until Jan. 25.
Gervais is excited to welcome fresh faces to the club, including new designated player Giacomo Vrioni.
“He’s a really talented No. 9, gifted technically, and also has the ability to get behind the defence. He can score goals,” Gervais said of the 26-year-old striker. “We had a chance to get him and we seized the opportunity.
“It’s an important add for us.”
Montreal also added “versatile” 21-year-old defender Jalen Neal from LA Galaxy and veteran midfielder Fabian Herbers in recent days.
A roller-coaster 2024 season featured a surprising quarter-final loss to lower-tier Forge FC in the Canadian Championship and an early exit from the Leagues Cup.
Montreal, however, squeezed into the MLS playoffs with an impressive late-season surge under first-year head coach Laurent Courtois, bowing out to Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference wild-card round.
Courtois stayed on, but an off-season of significant turnover followed. The club restructured its front office, revamped its coaching staff and said goodbye to a swath of players.
Courtois’s side begins the 2025 MLS campaign against Atlanta on Feb. 22 and won’t host its home opener until April 12 against Charlotte FC at Stade Saputo, its eighth game of the season.