Expansion FC Supra du Quebec officially starts stocking its roster Friday with the first two picks of the Canadian Premier League’s U Sports draft.
Given the franchise leadership’s past ties to Ligue1 Quebec’s CS Saint-Laurent, Supra no doubt already has other yet-to-be-announced talent ready to roll. And Rocco Placentino, Supra’s president and co-founder, already has a firm vision for his side.
“Supra is going to be a local-based product,” Placentino said in an interview.
His planned all-Quebec side draws on the example of Spain’s Atletico Bilbao, which exclusively fields players from the Basque region.
Mexico’s Chivas de Guadalajara also has a tradition of signing only Mexican talent although that includes foreign-born players whose mother or father are Mexican-born and those whose parents are naturalized Mexican citizens.
Placentino says Supra, which held a series of tryouts earlier this month, will start announcing other player signings in December.
Placentino previously served as sporting director of Ligue1 Quebec’s CS Saint-Laurent. Supra sporting director Mateo Cabanettes and head coach Nick Razzaghi also came from Saint-Laurent.
Former Canadian international Nick de Santis, who started his playing career with the Montreal Supra of the Canadian Soccer League and coached the Montreal Impact, has signed on as an executive adviser.
All four know the Quebec market and plan to mine it regularly.
“If I didn’t think that Quebec had enough talent, I wouldn’t have wasted my last five years putting this together,” Placentino said. “Maybe I am a bit biased because I’m from Quebec, but the amount of talent that we have in this province … I’m pretty sure that FC Supra will be able to develop the next Ismael Kone and Moise Bombito in the near future not the far future.”
Both Canadian internationals came up through the CS Saint-Laurent ranks (with Kone joining at 15 from NDG), with Placentino saying plenty of other Quebec clubs are also developing talent.
“We can’t wait to work with the community clubs and see how we can service their elite players,” he added.
Placentino says he has already held talks with CF Montreal about working together, with the belief the two teams can complement rather than compete against each other.
“CF Montreal has players that are young that are not ready for MLS who maybe would be ready to be part of the CPL.,” he said. “Being in their backyard, they can keep an eye on their players if they’re loaning out players to us.”
FC Supra will play out of Laval, sharing the 5,580-capacity Stade Boreale with the NSL’s Montreal Roses.
Placentino, a former Canadian international who played for the Montreal Impact as well as a string of Italian sides, promises Supra will play an exciting brand of football.
“So you won’t see FC Supra kicking and running. You’ll see FC Supra taking risks going forward, playing the ball on the ground. You’ll definitely see an FC Supra that’s going to have ‘la grinta’ (grit and determination), which means never giving up, relentless on the field — a warrior mentality.”
“That’s an identity that will never leave,” he added.
Friday’s two-round draft is open to undergraduates who participated in a U-Sports men’s soccer program in 2025.
To date, 115 players have been taken in the U Sports draft, including eight chosen more than once. Of those, 68 went on to sign contracts with CPL clubs including Canadian international defender Joel Waterman (now in the MLS with the Chicago Fire) and CF Montreal midfielder Victor Loturi.
CPL clubs may add up to three players on U Sports contracts to their developmental roster. Such talent does not count towards a club’s player compensation budget.
The draft is a chance to allow student-athletes the chance to earn pro experience while maintaining their university eligibility.
Quebec talent available includes midfielders Maxime Bourgeois (University of Sherbrooke) and Călin Calaidjoglu (University of Montreal) and forward Alexandre Marcoux (UQTR), Bourgeois and Calaidjoglu both came up through the CF Montreal youth ranks while Marcoux was this season’s RSEQ Most Outstanding Player.
Supra plans to open training camp the third week of January.
Supra is the CPL’s third expansion team, following Atletico Ottawa (2020) and Vancouver FC (2023). Its addition will keep the league at eight teams, despite the recent demise of Winnipeg’s Valour FC.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
