William Akio to Ross County FC – More CPL Transfers

It was just 2 weeks ago when Ross County FC of Scotland initiated a transfer that saw Cavalry FC’s Victor Loturi leave for an opportunity to play in the SPL. Ross County FC weren’t finished and have now finalized a deal for Canadian Premier League side Valour FC‘s bombarding winger William Akio, who is Victor Loturi’s older brother. (That’s one way to try and ensure team chemistry, just sign siblings.)

Akio, now representing Southern Sudan internationally, has played with Valour FC since the 2021 season, scoring 12 goals in his 43 games (CPL and Canadian Championship combined).

William Akio is best known for two things, one of the highs of the 2021 CPL season and one of the bloopers of the 2022 CPL season (thus far)…

William Akio’s Solo Full Pitch Goal vs. Forge

William Akio’s Goal Line Clearance vs. HFX Wanderers

What does this mean for the CPL?

Now that Akio has transferred to RCFC for an undisclosed fee it’s impossible to ignore the impact that the CPL and the global accessibility provided by OneSoccer.ca is having on Canadian soccer players. While Akio has accepted a call up from Southern Sudan’s national team, Loturi still remains eligible for Canada. William immigrated to Canada with his parents while Victor was born here. Regardless of who these young men represent internationally, they are, for all intents and purposes, products of Canada’s soccer system, specifically Calgary’s.

The brothers have now joined a rapidly growing list of young Canadian talent that finally got an opportunity to shine via the CPL. Mo Farsi has moved on to MLSNext and will most likely be featuring in the MLS with the Colombus Crew in due course (Update: as predicted, Farsi has signed with Columbus Crew). In June, Diyaeddine Abzi was sold by York United to Ligue2 side Pau FC. Before Abzi, there was Borges, Waterman, Attardo, McNaughton and Estevez all progressing upwards from the CPL and there’s every chance this is still just the beginning.

This is definitely an exciting time for soccer in Canada (and Brampton in particular) as more and more young players take steps to professional pathways and advance to bigger leagues the world over.