Cavalry FC announced on Monday that it has agreed to send forward Aribim Pepple on a two-week trial with English Premier League club Sheffield United.
As part of the deal, Sheffield United has the option to sign Pepple to a permanent contact once the trial is over.
Pepple, a 17-year-old who has played for Canada at the U-17 level, signed with Cavalry last summer and ended up making six appearances during the recent Island Games. In total, the youngster made 15 appearances in all competitions during his two seasons with the Cavs.
At 16 years, seven months, and 20 days, Pepple became the youngest player to appear in a Canadian Premier League match when he debuted for Cavalry in a 0-0 draw vs. HFX Wanderers FC on Aug. 10, 2019.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Aribim, whose pace, power and potential have caught the eye of a number of overseas clubs this year,” Cavalry coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said in a media release.
“He is still developing his game and we often forget he is only 17 years old due to the maturity he shows in both his physical appearance and character. He has a very high ceiling in terms of potential that we feel this is the perfect opportunity for him to go overseas where the English season has only just begun.”
The Cavs boss recently hinted that the club was receiving calls about several different players, suggesting that it might be the “peripheral” players — and perhaps not the big names who played more minutes — that were drawing attention.
“It’s a bit like we had last year, we had some big hitters in the way Marco Carducci and (Dominick) Zator had played, and (Dominique) Malonga, and all these guys we mentioned, then it was Joel Waterman that came out,” Wheeldon told CanPL.ca in September.
“So something similar is happening now, where there’s some key guys that played very very well for us, but it’s some of the peripheral players that made an impact this year that people are inquiring about.”
Pepple was five when his family moved from Kettering, England to Calgary. Before signing with Cavalry, he played with the Calgary Foothills FC USL2 team.
Founded in 1889, Sheffield United has won four FA Cups (the last coming in 1925) and won First Division title (in 1898), the only time they won the English top-flight. Promoted in 2019, Sheffield United currently sits 19th in the Premier League table. They finished ninth in the 2019-20 season.
