The Halifax Wanderers made a significant splash on Wednesday with the signing of attacking midfielder Sean Rea.

The 22-year-old from Montréal joins the Wanderers on a multi-year contract through the 2025 season. Despite significant interest from multiple CPL clubs, it was ultimately Halifax that Rea felt was the best fit.

“I’m extremely excited,” Rea told CanPL.ca. “Halifax was a team I had in mind, they presented a really good project that aligned with what I wanted and I’m really looking forward to playing in front of their great fans.”

Rea is a player with whom Canadian Premier League fans will be plenty familiar, as he spent two seasons in Winnipeg with Valour FC in 2021 and 2022 on loan from CF Montréal. Between those two campaigns, he made 53 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and adding 13 assists.

His 2022 campaign, in particular, was among the most impressive the league has ever seen in its short history. He set the league’s single-season assist record, with nine, and scored five goals. He also led the league in chances created with 71, which was 28 more than any other player that season.

For his efforts, he received the league’s Best U-21 Canadian Player of the Year award, and was a nominee for the league’s Player of the Year award and finished fourth in Players’ Player of the Year voting.

Rea returned to CF Montréal following that campaign, playing 18 times in all competitions for the MLS side, scoring a goal and adding two assists. After leaving the club after the 2023 season, he signed with CD Castellón in Spain.

He joins a Halifax side in need of a bit of a magician in the final third. Despite leading the league in expected goals with 24.09, and being third in possession, 50.82, the Wanderers have scored just 17 goals in 14 matches — sixth most in the league.

“Sean, obviously his reputation in the league precedes him,” said Halifax Wanderers Sporting Director Matt Fegan. “He had a fantastic time when he was with Valour before, and I think he’s a player who’s hungry to play and bring his skill set back onto the field as well after the past year. He’s also somebody who I think we’re sort of missing, a bit of dynamic dribbling in the attack.

“So I think whenever you can add a player of that level, who, again, is familiar, is Canadian, is young, has his best years ahead of him. Anytime you can add a player like that to your organization, I think it’s a huge step. So we’re really excited to have him.”

For his part, Rea is extremely excited to head to the East Coast for a number of reasons, feeling that this Halifax club has all the conditions which will allow him to succeed and play his best football.

“The fans are always great, always a full stadium,” said Rea. “The pitch is one of the only grass fields in the CPL, had a chance to speak to the coach and he’s great, there’s a few guys on the Wanderers that were from Montréal, and are good friends of mine.”

Rea connected with Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar immediately when they first spoke, and thinks the style the team plays under him will really mesh well with his best attributes.

“He’s super passionate and I am as well, so I feel like when we got onto Zoom we clicked right away and that’s something I look for, is if there is a good vibe,” said Rea. “We speak football, we have similar ideologies and I appreciated our chat and I was excited to get started.”

That start won’t be without its challenges, he joins a Halifax team midway through their season who currently sit in eighth place in the Canadian Premier League — albeit with two games in hand on most other clubs. However, Rea is confident he can be a big part of a second-half resurgence for the ambitious group.

“I can’t wait to get on the pitch, and start training with the boys,” said Rea. “I know we’ve got some work to do but there’s always challenges in football and I’m extremely excited to get this team into the playoffs.”

The Wanderers kick off the second half of their 2024 season during the annual Natal Day match at the Wanderers Grounds on Monday, August 5 against Vancouver FC. With Rea now part of the group, they do so with renewed momentum, as they look to get back above the league’s playoff line.