York United FC is delighted to announce the signing of Dutch defender Lassana Faye on a one-year deal, plus a club option of a further twelve months.

The 24-year-old left-back is a native of Rotterdam and his formative years were spent at local club Sparta, currently plying their trade in the Eredivisie. From there, he spent a number of seasons playing underage with PSV Eindhoven but his big break came when he signed for Vitesse as an 18-year-old in 2016.

After a number of notable performances for the youth team, he made his senior debut later that same year in a Dutch Cup clash with Jodan Boys and played the full 90 minutes, even assisting on their final goal. He didn’t have to wait too long for his top-flight debut either and it came in spectacular circumstances, as he started a home clash against heavyweights Ajax. His second Eredivisie appearance came against another high-profile side in Feyenoord, while he was also part of the Vitesse squad that went on to claim a famous Dutch Cup title at the end of the season: beating AZ Alkmaar 2-0 to qualify for the following season’s UEFA Europa League.

In total, Faye appeared in five of Vitesse’s six group games and started two of them, including a 1-1 draw with Lazio at the iconic Olympic Stadium as well as a 1-0 victory over OGC Nice. Though the team failed to make it through to the knockout stages of the tournament, they enjoyed an excellent domestic campaign in 2017/18 – spearheaded by the loan signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea – and finished the season sixth in the table. In the subsequent European competition play-offs, they beat both Den Haag and Utrecht to secure a place in the following season’s Europa League qualifying round.

In 2019, Faye moved to his hometown club – Sparta Rotterdam – who had just sealed promotion to the top-flight. He started 23 of his side’s 26 league games as they finished comfortably in mid-table. The following season, he signed a loan deal with Den Haag and started a further 12 Eredivisie games. Most recently, Faye was with Rukh Lviv in Ukraine.

“Lassana is a very experienced and talented footballer who we feel has the opportunity to make a huge impact in the CPL,” says Angus McNab, York United FC’s CEO/President and GM. “He has big shoes to fill following Diyaeddine Abzi’s departure last season but we feel he is more than capable of delivering. He is very excited to get to Canada and his enthusiasm for the project was very clear to see throughout all of our discussions.”

For Head Coach Martin Nash, the Dutchman brings an expertise to the left-back role but also provides an exciting attacking outlet.

“Lassana is an athletic and technical left-back with the ability to join the attack and create,” he says of his latest addition.

Faye is the third new signing announced, following the acquisitions of midfielders Elijah Agekugbe and Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé.