Valour FC has cast its net to South America and landed an intriguing talent in Colombian midfielder Daniel Ascanio.
Ascanio will join Valour on a loan agreement from Real Santander FC, a Colombian second division club. Real Santander first announced the loan earlier this week.
⚠️ COMUNICADO OFICIAL ⚠️
Familia Alba, medios de comunicación y comunidad en general; en el siguiente comunicado reseñamos las novedades que tendrá nuestro plantel profesional de cara a la temporada 2022-IGracias por su atención. #UnSueñoReal#somosREAL
🤍💙⚽️ pic.twitter.com/w1EKV3mLQW— Real Santander S.A (@RealsantanderSA) January 22, 2022
Ascanio’s arrival in Winnipeg will be pending him landing a work permit and the confirmation of the international transfer.
Valour GM and Head Coach Phillip Dos Santos said Ascanio popped onto the club’s radar screen just before Christmas when it was confirmed that Jared Ulloa, who spent the 2021 season here on loan from Club Sporting Cristal, would be loaned to Cusco FC this year.
“We had a positional need and once our staff started looking at Daniel — myself, Jay (Bhindi), Patrick (Di Stefani) and Damian (Rocke) – we all felt this is a guy that has the ability and qualities to come into the CPL, play games and help the team immediately,” Dos Santos told valourfootball.club.
“We felt this was an opportunity we couldn’t pass on because this is a player who has the ability to eliminate players in 1 v 1 situations and that is very objective in the final third. Every time he gets a small window or creates a little separation between himself and the defender he’s either going to put a cross in or try something to go and beat a threat
“Those players don’t come every day. I spoke to the kid. He’s a great kid who seems very connected with the world. He was playing there, but he’s very ambitious and sees an opportunity here to get exposure in another market. Real Santander also felt it was good for him to get different visibility.”
Ascanio scored six goals in 31 appearances for Real Santander last year and Valour FC’s staff is thrilled at the upside for 21-year-old, while also tempering expectations.
“He’s a good addition. He’s a player who is rare in our market with a profile you don’t get every day here,” Dos Santos said. “He has an ability to unbalance the opposition offensively and create something by himself.
“He’s young. He’s going to need an adaptation period. He’s a 20-year-old kid who is going to be coming to a new country and a new set up. We’re going to help him out and he’s going to need some games to pick up the rhythm and understand how the CPL works.”
The club is also confirming that centre back Tony Mikhael and goalkeeper Rayane Yesli – the two selections in the CPL U-Sports Draft last year – will be back again. Mikhael made 13 appearances for Valour last year totalling 652 minutes while also playing internationally for Lebanon’s U-23 team.
“When I arrived I didn’t get to see much of him because he left for his national team,” Dos Santos said. “But we did see his games with the national team. He’s a player who is extremely intriguing because he’s young and he plays with already a good maturity at the position. He’s not the tallest of the centre backs, but he reads the game well, his positioning is good and he’s simple in his game.
“He doesn’t take risks. We see in him a player who has a good margin to progress. We also need depth at that position. Look at last year – it was a position we couldn’t really find stability in with AJB (Andrew Jean-Baptiste) not being there right away from the beginning of preseason this year we felt that we needed a player who was familiar with the house and is able to come in.
“I’m interested to see how he is going to progress in the environment with a little more space and confidence this year after being with his national team. He’s a player who has a lot yet to show and we’re excited to see how he’s going to embrace the challenge in his second pro year.”
Yesli, a 6-7 keeper who spent a chunk of last season with Valour FC before AS Blainville in Quebec to get playing time, is another intriguing prospect who could push for minutes this year, especially as the club waits on a possible return of Jonathan Sirois on another loan agreement with CF Montreal.
“He has a physical presence, and you can’t develop that,” Dos Santos said. “He’s gifted physically in that not only is he big, he can move for a guy his size.
“He needs to play games. We had a chance to watch him and really liked his progression. We’re curious to see what he can do and how close he be to fighting for that No. 1 position.
“We like what we’ve seen so far in his footage and the feedback from Patrick (Di Stefani) in having Rayane last year in preseason. We value him and think highly of him.”