There is an opportunity for valuable minutes for Erik Pop to grow his game with a club eager to help him push his development in his home country.
And so in that respect, Valour FC’s commitment to the young striker — and vice-versa — is everything the Canadian Premier League represents.
Valour announced the signing of Pop, who just turned 19 today, to a contract guaranteed for 2025 and 2026 with a club option for 2027 and with that the two sides hope it’s the start of something meaningful.
“He’s young, he just turned 19 and there’s a process for a kid like that,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos in a conversation with valourfootball.club. “But we like him, and we like the long-term commitment we have with him.
“He’s physically mature and has good international experience after packing up his luggage and going to build his career in Germany. Guys like this don’t become available every day. For us, it’s about making sure we have a plan for his growth and development here and if he can achieve that by giving us good minutes and scoring goals, that’s even better.
“The appeal for him is very clear — it’s an opportunity transition from youth football to the professional world. His family, his circle, assessed this and determined this is the right train for him to hop onto and see where it’s going to take him.”
Pop, a product of Mississauga, Ont., comes to Winnipeg after two years with 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC in Germany’s second tier. He made that move overseas after starring with the ProStars FC League1 Ontario, where he had 13 goals in 18 appearances.
He has international experience representing at the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship as well as the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He is also eligible to play for Romania and has previously represented the country’s U-18 men’s national team.
Valour has had Pop on their radar and had discussions with the national team coaches about bringing him aboard. That decision was sealed when Dos Santos spoke to Pop about the opportunity here in Winnipeg.
“When we look at young players, we need to look at their maturity and the way they approach the situation,” said Dos Santos. “You get a glimpse when you talk to them but it’s really going to be about a daily basis on the field. Our expectations are not that he’s already a man — we know there’s still a process, but we believe he has the tools to step into an environment like this and grow. We’re going to be part of the process of him maturing as a footballer. We also look at whether he is physically mature to cope with the game at this level and that for us was very evident.
“He’s still a player that is young and we need to work with, and he’ll learn a lot, but he’ll learn in the right environment and that’s what makes this appealing. For me this is simple: regardless of his age he’s there to compete and hopefully find minutes organically. That will be good for him and for every player in the position and for the club.”
Current 2025 Valour FC Roster as of Jan. 30, 2025:
Goalkeepers: Eleias Himaras, Jonathan Viscosi
Defenders: Roberto Alarcón, Themi Antonoglou, Gianfranco Facchineri, Rocco Romeo
Midfielders: Dante Campbell, Safwane Mlah, Raphael Ohin, Diogo Ressurreição
Forwards: Jordan Faria, Shaan Hundal, Kris Twardek, Kian Williams, Erik Pop