Luca Saputo says his family’s decision to move on from CF Montreal has brought back a flood of memories, but he’s focused on leaving the club in a better place. His father, Joey Saputo, announced Monday that he was putting the Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise up for sale. The elder Saputo founded the team as the Montreal Impact in 1992. “It’s very emotional. The club has been a part of my life since I was born,” Luca Saputo, the team’s managing director of recruitment and sporting methodology, said Wednesday. “The club and I are like brothers. We grew up together, literally. I had a flashback of 1,000 images in a few seconds of Stade Claude-Robillard, or Stade Saputo in MLS.” Joey Saputo said he would prefer to keep the team in Montreal but made clear that CF Montreal could relocate if a suitable local buyer doesn’t emerge for the club, which was valued at US$440 million by Forbes in February. Until a sale is completed, the Saputo family will continue to run the team, with Luca and his brother, Simone, keeping their senior roles in soccer operations. Luca Saputo wouldn’t delve into the family’s discussion around the sale. In the meantime, he said his goal is to improve the team after Montreal finished last in the Eastern Conference with six wins, 20 losses and eight draws for its worst season since joining MLS in 2012. “It would be extremely sad to see (the club) leave, but I’m really not thinking about that,” he said Wednesday on a video conference call from the MLS Board of Governors meetings in Florida. “I’m really focused on what I need to do every single day to bring this team on the field to the level that I know it needs to be,” he added. “In terms of the day-to-day, nothing changes. We’re already ready for next season and putting things in place to be better off.” The challenges ahead, however, are significant. For starters, Montreal needs a new coach. Saputo announced Wednesday that interim manager Philippe Eullaffroy, who replaced Marco Donadel in April, would change roles within the organization and not return as first-team head coach next season. There’s also the question of how Montreal can attract players while the club is for sale. But Saputo pointed to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who managed to sign German star Thomas Müller under similar circumstances. “Just because a club is for sale, it doesn’t mean we can’t have success or have great players,” Saputo said. Montreal also faces a challenging 2027 MLS sprint season, with only six of its 14 games scheduled at Stade Saputo. The club opens its campaign Feb. 21 at Charlotte, beginning a six-game stretch away from home that includes a neutral-site matchup against D.C. United in Miami. The schedule challenges will continue beyond the sprint season as MLS transitions to a winter calendar for 2027-28. Stade Saputo is not winterized, and the renovations at Olympic Stadium are still years away from completion. Monday’s announcement made waves across the country’s soccer landscape, with Montreal joining the Whitecaps as the second Canadian MLS team on the market. Despite lacking on-field success in the past decade, Montreal has successfully developed Canadian talent through its academy and first team. That list includes six members of last summer’s World Cup roster: goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, defenders Alistair Johnston and Joel Waterman, and midfielders Mathieu Choinière, Ismaël Koné and Nathan Saliba. Even Jonathan Osorio, captain of archrival Toronto FC, would hate to see the team relocate. “We don’t really like each other, but at the same time I think it would be a shame if it was sold to somebody that took the team out of Montreal,” Osorio told reporters Tuesday in Toronto. “It would be a shame for Canadian soccer, one because of the amount of players that have come out of Montreal, that this country has developed. “Having another club and the rivalry with us, it wouldn’t be the same.” CF Montreal has also helped subsidize the contract of Canadian men’s national team coach Jesse Marsch, who signed an extension through 2030 last summer. “Joey Saputo and the Saputo family have played an enormous role in the growth of soccer in Montreal and across Canada,” Canada Soccer spokesperson Paulo Senra said in a statement. “CF Montreal remains an important part of our national soccer landscape, and we strongly support keeping the club in Montreal.” So who could step up to save the team? Local fans have speculated about Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson, who recently invested in the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo. “For the moment I don’t have a lot to say on the subject, besides that we’ll have to look at it, and we’ll see where it brings us,” Molson told reporters in French on Monday in Toronto. “But it’s Day 1, and I prefer to declare my intentions once some time has passed.” Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, meanwhile, said Tuesday the provincial government would not subsidize CF Montreal. But he didn’t close the door on helping in some form, noting he had not yet seen an investment proposal. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2026.
