Jean-Aniel Eclesiaste Assi (born 12 August 2004) is a professional soccer player who plays as a winger for

Crown Legacy FC Crown Legacy FC is an American soccer team that is located in Matthews, North Carolina. It is the reserve team of Charlotte FC and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On March 31, 2022, Charlotte FC announced it would field an MLS Next P ...

of MLS Next Pro. Born in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, Assi represents Canada internationally.

Early life

Born in Adzopé, Ivory Coast, in 2004, Assi moved to Canada at age 10. He began playing youth soccer in Canada with ASM LaSalle, before joining

Royal-Sélect de Beauport Royal-Sélect de Beauport is a Canadian soccer club that plays in the semi-professional Première ligue de soccer du Québec. They won the Canadian Challenge Trophy, a national amateur competition, in 2012. History Royal-Sélect de Beauport was ...

. In 2017, he joined the Montreal Impact Academy. In 2020, he took part in the pre-season training camp with the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

, when he was only fifteen.

Club career

On 4 December 2020, Assi signed his first homegrown contract with Montreal Impact (later renamed

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

for the 2021 season). Assi made his professional debut with Montreal Impact in a 1-0

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

win over C.D. Olimpia on 15 December 2020, becoming the youngest ever player to play for the club at the age of 16 years and 125 days. In March 2022, Assi went on a one-year loan with Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC. In February 2023, he went on loan with Atlético Ottawa. Upon completion of the 2023 Season, CF Montréal would announce that they would not pick up Assi's contract for 2024, ending his time with the club. In January 2024, Assi joined

, the MLS Next Pro affiliate of Charlotte FC.

International career

, Assi is eligible to represent both the

and Canada. In July 2019, he made his debut in the Canadian youth program at a U15 camp. He represented the Canada U15s at the

2019 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship The 2019 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship is an international football tournament, the third edition of the CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship. The competition was initially set to feature up to 39 teams from the CONCACAF region as well as ...

, where he was named to the Tournament All-Star XI. In June 2022, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team for the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Honduras, ...

Career statistics

Notes

References

External links

*
CF Montreal Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Assi, Jean-Aniel 2004 births Living people People from Adzopé Soccer players from Montreal Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Ivorian men's footballers Ivorian emigrants to Canada Men's association football wingers Royal-Sélect de Beauport players Homegrown Players (MLS) CF Montréal players Cavalry FC players Canadian Premier League players Atlético Ottawa players Crown Legacy FC players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States