Leading scorer Martinez a free agent after CF Montreal declines option

MONTREAL — CF Montréal will not exercise the contract options of nine players including leading scorer Josef Martinez, the Major League Soccer club announced Thursday.

The Venezuelan international had 14 goals and three assists in 24 games last season while being named the team's most valuable player.

"We had an open discussion with Josef and his agent, and came to the conclusion that exercising his options wasn't the trajectory to take and that separating was the best decision for both sides," team president and chief executive officer Gabriel Gervais said. "We evaluated all the possible factors to make this decision."

The 31-year-old Martinez, who has undergone multiple knee surgeries, had a US$1.31 million salary this past season.

Montreal also declined the contract options of Canadian defender Raheem Edwards and veteran midfielder Lassi Lappalainen. Gabriele Corbo, Grayson Doody, Ilias Iliadis, Matteo Schiavoni, Robert Thorkelsson and Rida Zouhir are the other players.

The club says it is still negotiating with midfielder Ousman Jabang, while the contracts of designated player Victor Wanyama and Logan Ketterer and the loan of Joaquín Sosa will expire at the end of the year.

The club did exercise the options of Canadian midfielder Nathan Saliba and forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint for the 2025 campaign.

Gervais said they're already looking for replacements.

"We're going to use our money diligently, it's no secret we want to find another forward to replace Josef Martinez," he said. "We want to reinforce our defence, in a general sense. And when I say that I don't just mean the goalkeeper and defence, I'm talking about everybody.

"We can't allow 64 goals in a season and expect to have success. It's impossible."

Montreal, thanks in part to Martinez's scorching hot form, squeezed into the MLS playoffs before losing at home on penalties to Atlanta in the Eastern Conference wild-card match.

The player departures came on the same day that Montreal parted ways with four members of its coaching staff, including assistant coach Laurent Ciman, also a former Montreal player.

"I won't get into detail on Laurent Ciman in particular, we had confidential talks, we recognize everything he has done as a player and coach, and we wish him all the best," Gervais said. "After the season we took a step back and re-evaluated, whether it's the players or the staff, and all the changes we've made are with the idea of becoming more consistent, more competitive and to have a winning culture."

Sixteen Montreal players were already under contract for the 2025 season: goalkeepers Sébastian Breza and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Fernando Álvarez, Dawid Bugaj, George Campbell, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Tom Pearce and Joel Waterman, midfielders Alessandro Biello, Caden Clark, Bryce Duke, Dominic Iankov and Samuel Piette as well as forwards Matías Cóccaro, Mahala Opoku and Sunusi Ibrahim.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.