Rounding up a busy transfer window for CanMNT players
It was transfer deadline day for most leagues across the world this week, meaning that there was a flurry of action on many fronts as clubs looked to make their last moves ahead of the end of the window.
From a CanMNT perspective, there ended up being a decent amount of movement to follow, too, continuing what has been a remarkable transfer window for Canadian players.
Safe to say that a World Cup effect ended up being on full display over the last few months, especially when seeing moves such as the one Nathan Saliba made to Villarreal CF, Promise David made to Brighton & Hove Albion, and Niko Sigur made to Toulouse FC, among others.
For Canadian fans, that’s exciting to see, as those sorts of moves should push a growing national team to a whole new level going forward.
With more players playing at better clubs in bigger leagues, it’s going to create a domino effect for more players to play at elite clubs, the same way that Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David proving themselves in Europe earlier this decade pushed more clubs across Europe to take chances on Canadian talent. While the number of Canadian players in Europe has grown astronomically in recent years, this summer has pushed things to a new level, and some of these recent transfers show that.
At the end of the day, the transfer market is one that follows trends, and right now, Canadians are becoming a hot commodity, as we’ve seen recently.
To return to the here and now, however, here’s a look at some of the news that came out from deadline day, as well as a look at some of the other key moves that have been made over the last few weeks, for those who have missed what has gone down.
Liam Millar heads to Birmingham City on loan:
After helping Hull City earn promotion to the Premier League, Liam Millar is heading back to the EFL Championship on loan with Birmingham City - even despite scoring his first Premier League goal, a crucial winner for Hull in their win over Coventry City, just last weekend.
Liam Millar SCORES!!
— FuboCanada 🇨🇦 (@fuboTVCanada) August 29, 2026
⚽ 0-1 Coventry City vs Hull City
WATCH EVERY GOAL 👉 https://t.co/2w98QqADfX#PL #PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/lW9eAEBm0V
Such is life in the Premier League, however, where teams can be quite ruthless with their business. It doesn’t matter that Millar spent two seasons with the club, scored five goals and added eight assists across 53 appearances, and even captained the side in a recent EFL Cup game - with a bunch of new signings in their squad, Hull felt it was best to send him out on loan to earn the minutes they feel he deserves.
For what it’s worth, this is not a bad move at all for Millar, who turns 27 this month. The Championship remains a strong league, and Birmingham are a team with promotion ambitions. Therefore, Millar should play plenty on a good team, and Birmingham will get a player with 79 games worth of Championship experience to help them in their quest to go up, making this a win-win move.
At the same time, you can’t help but wonder if Millar could’ve earned a bit more of an opportunity with Hull. With his profile as a winger, he can be useful off the bench as a supersub, as he showed against Coventry, and he can also start games, if needed.
Had things not worked out for him by January, then a move like this would’ve made plenty of sense - instead, Millar is heading right back to the Championship before he got much of a sniff with Hull, which is surprising to see.
We are delighted to confirm the signing of Liam Millar on a season-long loan from Hull City. ✍️
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) September 1, 2026
The 26-year-old winger arrives at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park with significant experience at both club and international level and will add further depth to Chris Davies' attacking… pic.twitter.com/tTbNJLASEV
To return to what Birmingham could expect from him, however, Millar averaged 0.19 xG and 0.17 xA, as well as 2.05 shots and 1.14 key passes for Hull, so there’s no reason why he can’t replicate those numbers and push for more goals and assists after finishing with three goals and five assists in 2025-2026.
Theo Bair joins the Bolton Wanderers on loan:
Yet another Canadian player is heading to the EFL Championship, as Theo Bair joined CanMNT winger Jayden Nelson at the Bolton Wanderers in a surprise deadline day move.
Bair had been linked with a move to England earlier in the window, but interest had seemingly died down, making this a bit of a shock transfer, as he had seemed likely to stay in Ligue 1 with Auxerre after spending last season on loan with Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport.
✍️ We are delighted to announce the signing of striker Theo Bair on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 side AJ Auxerre, with the option of a permanent deal.
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) September 1, 2026
Welcome to Wanderers, Theo! 🤩
🔗 https://t.co/7joZHiZXyb#bwfc pic.twitter.com/J1tMluYG7D
Instead, he’ll head to England, in a move that should suit him. With his physical tools, Bair will fit in a league like the Championship - but make no mistake, he’s got the ability to fill the net with his technical ability.
In Switzerland, he scored 10 goals in 31 appearances, and that was despite an injury derailing the second half of the campaign (which killed any chance he had of cracking Canada’s World Cup squad), so Bolton will hope he has similar output in his boots this season, or better.
As Bair showed last year, or during his breakout 2023-2024 campaign with Motherwell, in which he scored 15 goals and added six assists across all competitions, an in-form Bair is a sight to behold.
So even though it didn’t work out with Auxerre, where he scored just twice and added one assist in 33 appearances, the 27-year-old heads to Bolton knowing that this move could be just what he needs to find his best form again - and potentially re-enter the CanMNT picture, in the process.
Joel Waterman traded to the Portland Timbers:
After spending just one year with the Chicago Fire, Joel Waterman has already found a new MLS home, as he joined the Portland Timbers in a trade that should be finalized at any moment now.
There, he’ll link up with fellow Canadians James Pantemis and Kamal Miller, who he also played with at CF Montréal earlier this decade, keeping the Timbers as a club to watch for Canadians - ‘Portlanada’ remains alive for both fans of the CanMNT and CanWNT.
For a Timbers team that has struggled defensively this year, conceding 39 goals in 22 games in MLS play, this move should hopefully bolster their backline with someone who can do a lot of important work on both sides of the ball to help his team.
🇨🇦🟢 Sources: Portland Timbers finalizing a deal to acquire Canadian int'l center back Joel Waterman from the Chicago Fire.
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) September 1, 2026
Waterman, 30, has 17 caps for Canada. Joined Chicago last summer after years with CF Montréal.
Defensive boost for Portlandhttps://t.co/WkHxBuUWNj
Fresh off participating in his second straight World Cup with the CanMNT (even if he didn’t make an appearance at the tournament, just as was the case in 2022), Waterman will be hungry to stay in the Canadian picture as long as he can now that he’s turned 30, and the best way to do that is to maintain good performances at the club level.
To be fair, he was a regular on a good Chicago Fire side, racking up over 1500 minutes across 20 appearances this season (after making nine appearances at the end of last year), so this is arguably a bit of a downgrade on paper - but that won’t matter if Waterman can help rebuild this Timbers backline.
Derek Cornelius stays with Olympique de Marseille:
It seemed as if Derek Cornelius might head to Spain on deadline day, but the CanMNT centre back is sticking around in France, which could prove to be a good move for him - while it was exciting to imagine what Cornelius could’ve done with Rayo Vallecano, Marseille are a bit thin at centre back right now and could use his services.
Because of that, it’s not the worst thing to see Cornelius stay in France - at the end of the day, he remains at a solid club in one of the top-five European leagues, and should play semi-regularly (although he so far has made just one appearance off the bench this season).
DEAL OFF❌ #CanMNT centre-back Derek Cornelius won't be heading to Spain to join La Liga outfit Rayo Vallecano and will instead remain in Ligue 1 with Olympique de Marseille
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 1, 2026
Here's what Kristian Jack is hearing about Cornelius's situation pic.twitter.com/EPXk4d6eSY
After a disastrous loan spell with Rangers last year, he’ll have just been looking to hit the reset button wherever he landed, but now that he’s staying at Marseille, where he’s made 26 appearances since joining in 2024, he’ll try to reignite his future at the club.
With the CanMNT’s growing centre-back depth, pressure will be on Cornelius to play at Marseille, as he looks to stay a regular starter for Canada under Jesse Marsch. Given that he’s still 28, he can absolutely play a key role on this Canadian team this cycle, especially if he does end up earning minutes at a club like Marseille.
Luc De Fougerolles stays with Fulham:
After a breakout 2026 World Cup, Luc De Fougerolles is staying in the Premier League, for now, as he didn’t end up leaving Fulham on loan despite late reports that he could potentially head to Serie A.
For the 20-year-old De Fougerolles, who spent last year on loan in Belgium with FCV Dender, this is exciting, as he’ll get a shot at earning regular minutes with the club he’s been at since he was a youngster.
He’s already earned minutes this season, playing in an EFL Cup tie at the end of last month, which was just his second appearance for the club - now, it’s hoped that’s the start of a regular rotation role as a centre-back.
Having earned some much-needed professional experience while in Belgium, where he made 30 appearances for Dender (before that, his lone professional experience was that one game he played for Fulham, coming back in 2023-2024), it’s a sign that the club feels he’s ready to contribute in some way or another.
Perhaps credit has to be given to the CanMNT in that regard - he’s now earned 18 caps for Canada, as he did a great job of stepping up as Canada dealt with some injury troubles at the back over the last year and a half. Without his strong performances for Canada under his belt, especially at the World Cup, one can only wonder if Fulham would’ve been more hesitant about keeping him around.
Plus, it can’t be forgotten that if De Fougerolles doesn’t end up playing as big a role as hoped for Fulham over the next few months, a loan could always beckon in January.
Other moves:
Of course, those are but a few of the notable moves that have occurred just this week, but with the growing Canadian ecosystem, there are several others worth keeping in mind.
For example, it was exciting to see Charles-Emile Brunet, who was in his first professional season with Nashville SC after getting drafted last winter, earn a loan move to St. Louis CITY, where he should earn the sort of MLS opportunities that have been hard to come by with Nashville, who sit in first place in MLS’s Supporters’ Shield race. After impressing in MLS Next Pro and in his limited first-team appearances, Brunet should hopefully get the opportunity to do well in St. Louis.
Bienvenu, CEB! 🇨🇦
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) September 2, 2026
We have acquired 22-year-old Canadian midfielder Charles-Emile Brunet on loan from @NashvilleSC through the end of the 2026 season in exchange for $50,000 in 2026 GAM.
🗞️ https://t.co/GDng7C9Fie pic.twitter.com/T1Pvdkj4bz
Otherwise, earlier this window, Jamie Knight-Lebel was loaned from EFL Championship side Bristol City to Scottish league side Motherwell in what should be a good formative experience for the 21-year-old, who has spent the last two seasons on loan in EFL League Two. Given his age, he’s still seen as one for the future for the CanMNT, having impressed in his limited appearances for Canada.
Arriving in time for the opening Premiership weekend 🇨🇦
— Motherwell FC (@MotherwellFC) July 31, 2026
Welcome, Jamie.https://t.co/GoEvVjCtCg pic.twitter.com/je4kfFvfOF
Elsewhere, Emrick Fotsing’s move to the Vancouver Whitecaps from Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC is one to watch for the future, especially after seeing how he shone for Canada’s U20s at the Concacaf Championships this summer. He won’t play for the Whitecaps until 2027 at the earliest, as he’ll finish the season with Vancouver FC, but it’s exciting to see a move like this occur for a bright youngster doing well in the CPL, as moves like this can only help the league - especially if Fotsing does well with the Whitecaps and potentially makes his CPL debut down the line.
Yet, that shows why this move, or others that have occurred this summer, such as former Forge attacker Kwasi Poku’s move to the Whitecaps and former Vancouver FC midfielder Grady McDonnell’s move to Nottingham Forest, are so important - for the CPL ecosystem to thrive, upward movement like that is much-needed to pave the way for the next generation to earn similar opportunities.
In case you missed it:
Lastly, for those who haven’t had the chance to read about them yet, here’s a look at the other CanMNT transfers that have occurred and have already been written about on this site, if you want a deeper look at some of the other big moves that have occurred for CanMNT players this summer.
- Jonathan David joins Atlético Madrid on loan
- Nathan Saliba makes big money move to Villarreal CF
- Promise David makes surprise move to Brighton & Hove Albion
- Niko Sigur joins Toulouse FC
- Stephen Eustáquio heads to Swansea City
- Jayden Nelson joins Bolton Wanderers
- Owen Goodman makes loan move to Dundee FC
