With the 2025 Canadian Premier League season set to kick off on Saturday, there will be plenty of new faces gracing the starting lineups and rosters of each of the league’s eight clubs.
Many of those names may be familiar, as around the league this off-season, a significant theme was players moving to new clubs within the CPL. The past few months also saw some big stars return to the league, as well as plenty of exciting international signings.
Here is one new signing for each CPL club that could make a significant impact this season:
FW – Marco Bustos (Pacific FC)
Following two seasons in the Swedish top flight with Värnamo, Marco Bustos is back on Vancouver Island with Pacific FC for the 2025 campaign.
A CPL champion with the Tridents in 2021, the 28-year-old Bustos was one of the Canadian Premier League’s most exciting players prior to his departure in 2022. Between 2019 with Valour, and the following three seasons with Pacific, he scored 21 goals in 80 matches. Only Forge duo Kyle Bekker and Tristan Borges have managed more than Bustos’ 18 assists in CPL regular season and playoff action.
The Tridents scored the fewest goals in the league this past season, just 27, but Bustos’ return instantly re-ignites that attack. Now equipped with all the experience from his time in Europe, Bustos returns to the Canadian Premier League looking to be better than ever.
RELATED: Together wins championships’: Marco Bustos returns to Pacific FC, sights set on trophies
MF – Juan ‘Coque’ Castro (Atlético Ottawa)
Few players in the Canadian Premier League boast a more impressive resumé than the 33-year-old Castro.
The Mexican midfielder spent the past decade in the midfield with Atlético San Luis — the first five of which were spent in Ascenso MX before the club’s promotion to Liga MX over the past five campaigns. As such, he holds the record for Atlético San Luis appearances with 289.
A box-to-box midfielder, Castro brings quality on both sides of the ball to the middle of the park for Atleti. Perhaps just as important, he will also be a key leader within this ambitious group.
DF – Kunle Dada-Luke (Vancouver FC)
Trading Vancouver Island for the mainland this off-season, Dada-Luke joins the Eagles following four seasons with Pacific FC.
A 2021 CPL Champion, Dada-Luke is one of the Canadian Premier League’s best fullbacks, capable of impacting a game on both sides of the ball. Among the league’s premier one-v-one defenders, he finished second in the league in interceptions in 2024 (49), and third in duels won with 167 (59.43 per cent success rate).
What makes Dada-Luke particularly dynamic, however, is his ability to get forward as well, with exceptional pace and dribbling ability plus vision in crossing situations. With two of the league’s best-ever target men in Alejandro Díaz and Terran Campbell to aim at in 2025, look for Dada-Luke to rack up the assists.
RELATED: Star full-back Kunle Dada-Luke joins Vancouver FC: ‘We’ll do something special’
FW – Caniggia Elva (Cavalry FC)
There weren’t many changes for the 2024 North Star Cup Champions this off-season, but the few they did make could prove significant.
Among them is 28-year-old attacker Caniggia Elva — the latest addition to an already stacked Cavalry FC frontline. Elva, born in San Lucia before moving to Calgary at age 11, joins the club with nine years of experience playing in Germany.
Elva’s versatile attacking game will fit right in on a fluid and dynamic Cavalry attack, as he is capable of playing either through the middle as a second striker, #10, or on the right wing. Whether he is starting games this season or coming off the bench, he will be an impact player for the Calgary club this season.
FW – Massimo Ferrin (York United FC)
Amongst several homecomings for the Nine Stripes this off-season is that of 26-year-old Mississauga, ON attacker Massimo Ferrin.
Over the past two campaigns with the Halifax Wanderers, Ferrin established himself as one of the CPL’s most dangerous attackers. No player has scored more goals from open play than Ferrin (13) during that span, and he was also the league’s most fouled player (137) over the past two seasons.
If he can bring his thrilling attacking style of mazy dribbling, stunning strikes from outside the box and good link-up play with his fellow attackers, coupled with the production he had in Halifax, to York, Ferrin will quickly become a fan favourite with the Nine Stripes.
DF – Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Halifax Wanderers)
Last season, the Halifax Wanderers set the wrong kind of club record, as they conceded a single-season high 43 goals against, tied with Vancouver FC for most in the CPL in 2024.
With that in mind, the club went out and signed one of the top free agents in the CPL this off-season, central defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère. The 27-year-old brings a desperately needed no-nonsense approach to Halifax’s backline.
Over the past five seasons with Pacific FC, Meilleur-Giguère has been one of the league’s most reliable defenders, winning 67.08 per cent of his duels last season and finishing second in the league in clearances (138). He is also an attacking threat, particularly from set pieces, scoring three goals this past season for the Tridents.
RELATED: Meilleur-Giguère joins Halifax Wanderers FC: ‘Every team wants a player like that’
DF – Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
Another reunion this off-season comes in Winnipeg, with defender Rocco Romeo returning to Valour following two seasons spent with Vancouver FC.
The 24-year-old now has 91 games of experience between his four seasons in the league, split between Vancouver FC and Valour. In that time, he developed into a backline leader with a young Vancouver FC side and will be an important player for the Winnipeg club this season.
A physically dominant defender, Romeo finished fourth in the league last season in clearances (96). He is also a strong distributor of the ball from the back, finishing second in the CPL among outfield players in 2024 in successful long passes (135), and scored twice last season.
RELATED: Rocco Romeo returns to Valour FC: ‘I want to make history’
FW – Brian Wright (Forge FC)
The Canadian Premier League’s reigning Players’ Player of the Year’s move down the 905 to Hamilton remains one of the biggest stories of the league’s off-season.
Wright joins Forge from rivals York United following a dominant season where he led the league in goal contributions with 15 (nine goals and six assists). He now joins his third Ontario CPL club, playing his first two campaigns in the league with Atlético Ottawa — with whom he won a regular season title in 2022.
Following the departure of Kwasi Poku to RWD Molenbeek in late August, Forge struggled to find solutions at the number nine position, but Wright could be a game changer in this regard. A more traditional number nine than they’ve had in several seasons, he thrives at getting into good positions in the box, and is also great at both holding up play and finding teammates in good positions as well.