Breza Returns to Montreal Fold

23-year-old goalkeeper Sebastian Breza has been loaned back to CF Montreal for the 2022 season.

The Ottawa-born shot-stopper, voted MVP as Montreal lifted the 2021 Canadian Championship, will fight it out with James Pantemis for the #1 spot as the bleu/blanc/noir battle on three fronts next season. In addition to MLS and the Canadian Championship, there’s the not so small matter of Champions League to contend with.

Montreal declined Breza’s contact option last season possibly realizing a further 12-month loan from Joey Saputo’s Bologna was on the cards.

The current loan deal again includes a purchase option should things go well.

“We are happy to have Sebastian back with the team for the upcoming season,” Sporting Director Olivier Renard said in a statement. “We were pleased with his progress last season, so we wanted him to continue on with us.

“We opted not to exercise his option, but we remained in close contact with Bologna and his return is confirmed today.”

Breza managed 8 MLS starts last season and participated in three of the club’s four Canadian Championship games, winning the George Gross Memorial Trophy on the back of two clean-sheets and a very cool, penalty shoot-out winning kick.

He also has experience in Italian Serie C and D football after a stint at Potenza Calico.

Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Breza left Ste-Julie Soccer Club when he was 16 years old to join S.S. Monopoli 1966 in Italy, after which he was loaned to Palermo FC in 2016 where he played youth football before joining Potenza. He joined Bologna in September 2020.

At the Olympic (u23) qualifying tournament in Mexico last March Breza sat on the bench for Canada in all four games.

Although part of the national set-up, he has yet to win caps at any of the top three levels; full international, u23 and u21.