TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signings
The Montreal Impact have signed 16-year-old defender Keesean Ferdinand and 17-year-old midfielder Tomas Giraldo to Homegrown Player contracts, the club announced Wednesday. The two players both signed deals for 2020 and 2021 with an option to extend for future years. Ferdinand becomes the youngest player from the club to join the MLS team.
“We are glad to see another young player from the Academy sign his first professional contract this year,” Montreal Impact sporting director Olivier Renard said in a statement. “Keesean is a player that can play in the middle and on both sides of the defense, like he showed during training camp in Florida.”
“We are really pleased to see another Academy player sign with us. It’s a signing that’s aligned with the club’s mindset of believing in its young players,” said Renard about Giraldo. “Tomas showed us his qualities during our training camp in Florida. The coaches are really pleased to see him join the group.”
Ferdinand, who was playing with the Impact’s U-19 squad, first joined the club’s academy in 2014 at the age of 10. He becomes the first player to go through the Impact pre-academy system to sign a contract with the first team and the 19th Homegrown player to sign with the first team.
Giraldo was born in Medellin, Colombia, and arrived in Canada at the age of eight years old. He joined the academy in 2015, with the Impact U13, after playing with FSS Salaberry. He becomes the 20th player to sign a Homegrown deal with the first team.
“A dream I’ve had since I was young comes true,” Ferdinand said. “Every hour on the field, every duel won, every loss and every win helped me grow and improve. Realizing that the club that formed me trusts me at a young age is the proof that everything is possible if you are determined and if you have a good work ethic.”
“It’s a goal I set myself many years ago,” said Giraldo. “It’s something that makes me very proud. It also allows me to follow a family tradition. I hope it’s only the beginning of a great story.”
Ferdinand and Giraldo both represented Canada at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil last year.
