February 3, 2025...'A top talent: York United acquire Massimo Ferrin from Halifax Wanderers (from canpl.ca)
‘A top talent’: York United acquire Massimo Ferrin from Halifax Wanderers
2025-02-03
by Mitchell Tierney, Digital Content Producer (@mitchelltierney)
On a day where transfer news dominated headlines across the footballing world, the Canadian Premier League saw a significant swap of its own on Monday.
One of the league’s most lethal attackers, 26-year-old Massimo Ferrin, is joining his hometown club York United following two successful seasons
with the Halifax Wanderers. Ferrin joins the Nine Stripes on a transfer deal for an undisclosed fee, and has subsequently signed a guaranteed
contract for the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026.
“Throughout my career I’ve been all over North America and I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to play at home,” said Ferrin. “I thought
having family and friends at all of my games was something only possible when I was a kid. Now it’s a reality at the professional level.
That’s an incredible feeling and I can’t wait to get started.”
Over the past two CPL campaigns combined, no player has scored more goals than the Mississauga, Ont. born winger, whose 14 total tallies between
2023 and 2024 are tied with former Atlético Ottawa midfielder Ollie Bassett and his former Halifax teammate (now with Forge) Dan Nimick for the
most over that span. No player has scored more goals from open play over the past two campaigns than Ferrin’s 13.
His attacking impact goes beyond just goals, however. A direct and dangerous player, over the past two campaigns he completed 91 dribbles
(tied for third-most in the CPL during that span), was the league’s most fouled player (137 times) and won a league-leading five penalties over
that stretch. He also added four assists, which put him at 19 goal contributions between 2023 and 2024 — tied for third-most in the CPL during
that time and was a finalist for the league’s Players’ Player of the Year award in 2023.
“Massimo is a top talent and he’s been a target for a while now,” said York United president Ricardo Pasquel. “He brings so much to the table.
He’s a player that makes things happen in the final third and his goal contributions across the past two seasons in the CPL clearly tell that story.
He’s been a consistent performer and a constant threat. He’s an impressive young man, a fantastic ambassador and will give everything for this club.
Once again, he’s a local player coming home. We talk so much about the elite talent that exists all around us here and we’re immensely happy
to include so much of it in our 2025 squad.”
One stat in particular that will stand out to York United fans: no player has scored more goals against their bitter rivals Forge over the past
few seasons than Ferrin, with five. In fact, only Terran Campbell scored more goals against a single club in that span, with seven against
York United. For a York team who scored just once against Forge in five matches in all competitions last season, they will be hoping Ferrin brings
some of that magic back home with him.
Before joining Halifax in 2023, Ferrin dominated League1 Ontario with Vaughan Azzurri, scoring 23 goals in 15 matches and winning the league’s
Golden Boot Award, as well as league MVP. Ferrin also played 21 matches over two campaigns with Loudoun United in the USL Championship between 2020
and 2021 and played in the NCAA for both UAB and Syracuse.
He joins a new-look York frontline, which had to be remodelled following the departures of leading goalscorer Brian Wright, captain Mo Babouli
and Dennis Salanovic. York have since brought in Pacific FC attacker Adonijah Reid, Vancouver FC’s Gabriel Bitar, 17-year-old Marsel Bibishkov
and announced the signing of Toronto FC II leading scorer Julian Altobelli this past week. That group, plus Ferrin, will compete for minutes with
the returning Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy and 16-year-old Shola Jimoh.
Ferrin’s signing also continues a clear trend among York additions this off-season. He is the sixth of York’s ten new signings to date who were born
in the Toronto area, as the club looks to build around local talent.
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