Four FC Montreal players to join Bologna FC for a training camp

When Marco Di Vaio signed with the Montreal Impact in 2012, at that time , no one would have thought that the Montreal-Bologna relationship was about to start and eventually cement itself into the realm of sports, sports business and exchanges.

The Montreal Impact has just announced that 4 FC Montreal players would travel to Italy and participate in a training camp with Bologna FC for about 2 weeks. From February 13th to February 27th, highly-touted prospects from the Impact's academy will make the trip.

They are : central defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, midfielders Marco Dominguez, David Choinière and Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla.

This is great news and we should see more of these exchanges. Maxime Crépeau was just recently at Bologna for a training camp.

Club's press release

MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact and Bologna F.C. 1909 announced on Friday that four FC Montreal players will join the Italian club for a training camp from February 13 to February 27.

The players are defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, as well as midfielders Marco Dominguez, David Choinière and Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla.

"It's the first time at the Academy level that we send players to Bologna," said Academy director and FC Montreal head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. "It's a concrete opportunity that solidifies the relation between both clubs. It's the beginning of an exchange of players and technical staff that will become more common in the future. It also allows us to compare with players from a Serie A club and learn more about both structures, knowing we both come from different environments."

"The arrival of these four players, coming from a different football school and culture then ours, is an opportunity for them and our players to meet," adds the Bologna FC 1909 technical division director Pantaleo Corvino. "It's great both on the technical and human level."

Dominguez played 21 games last season in USL with FC Montreal, scoring a goal and an assist. The three other players will play their first USL season in 2016.

Meilleur-Giguère, Choinière and Tabla were part of the Impact U18 team that finished on top of the USSDA's 78 teams in 2015 with a 22-2-2 record in the season.

"It's a good opportunity to go there and show how we play in Montreal," said winger Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla. "It represents a lot for me and I'm happy to have been picked. I take this as an opportunity and will continue to work hard to progress."

Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, David Choinière and Marco Dominguez are currently at the first team training camp in Orlando. They will train with the group in Florida, then in Montreal, before leaving for Bologna.