Halifax Wanderers FC and York United FC announced on Tuesday that the sides have each loaned a player to the other, with Clément Bayiha joining the Wanderers and Tomas Giraldo joining York, both on loan for the remainder of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season.

York United will also have the option to buy Giraldo on a permanent deal at any time during the term of the loan. His current contract with the Wanderers includes a club option for the 2025 season.

Giraldo, a 21-year-old midfielder born in Medellín, Colombia and raised in Montréal, signed for the Wanderers in 2023. He has since made 20 appearances for the club, including one so far in 2024. He scored two goals last season, including the dramatic stoppage-time winner in Halifax’s 3-2 win over Atlético Ottawa at home.

In 2019, Giraldo represented Canada’s U-17 national team at both the Concacaf U-17 Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup. As a player born in 2003, Giraldo is officially classified as a domestic U-21 and will therefore count toward York’s U-21 minutes total.

“This is an exciting move for us,” said Ricardo Pasquel, General Manager and President, York United FC.

“Tomas is a great acquisition and is a flexible addition to our midfield. He’s a young player with so much potential and we look forward to his contributions this season. For Clem, the campaign has been a bit up and down so this represents a good opportunity to get consistent minutes. We will monitor him very closely while he’s with the Wanderers and I’m sure they’ll take great care of him.”

Bayiha, meanwhile, is a 25-year-old winger who has likewise been at York since 2023. He’s made five appearances this year with one assist, as he’s played 30 times in total for the Nine Stripes. He has also previously played in Major League Soccer, making 25 appearances in the competition for CF Montréal, also spending time in the USL Championship with the Ottawa Fury and in the Norwegian top flight with HamKam.

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Bayiha moved at a young age to France before settling in the greater Montréal area. He has represented Canada at the U-20 and U-21 levels.

“Clément has incredible pace and the ability to provide the service that we need as we continue trying to be dangerous and score more goals,” Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar said. “He also has a great familiarity with the way we want to play as well as with players in this team; he was roommates with Julian (Dunn) in Norway and with Jeremy (Gagnon-Lapare) at York.”

The Wanderers’ next match is this Sunday, June 2 when they take on Atlético Ottawa in the nation’s capital. York will be at Tim Hortons Field the day before when they take on Forge FC.