"He's a player with high potential": Nathan Saliba eager to become latest CF Montréal to CanMNT success story
There’s no doubt that Nathan Saliba has the potential to be a key piece for the Canadian Men’s National Team going forward, which is why it’s exciting to see him included in Jesse Marsch’s latest Canadian squad this week.
When the 21-year-old CF Montréal midfielder is on his game, he’s a fun player to watch, as he can be the sort of tempo-controlling #8 that can make a team tick.
Armed with bucketloads of technique in both of his feet and a strong motor, Saliba’s got the sort of profile that teams at the highest level love to work with.
Because of that, it feels like only a matter of time before the youngster makes the move to Europe, following in the footsteps of someone like CF Montréal alumni Ismaël Koné.
Nathan Saliba named Canada Soccer’s 2024 Men's Young Player of the Year 🏆
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) December 18, 2024
Saliba made two appearances for CANMNT in 2024, earning his debut in Canada’s 2-1 win over the USA on 7 September. At club level, he had a breakout season with CF Montréal in Major League Soccer featuring… pic.twitter.com/YtKPAJUO6Z
Before then, however, he still has lots of work to put in for his childhood club, as they try to navigate a tough start to 2025, one that has seen them win just one of their first 14 MLS games. A slow start that cost Laurent Courtois his job, things haven’t gone to plan for Montréal, who were unable to build off a strong end to 2024 in league play.
As a result, it’s been a tough year for all of the players, and Saliba’s been no exception. Having played everywhere across Montréal’s midfield, he’s had some bright moments, but also some struggles, which is only natural for a young player to deal with in a situation like that, especially given that he's had to step up as a leader (he even wore the armband for the first time earlier this year).
Yet, he’s done well to find some consistency as of late, which is positive to see. In particular, he’s done well to take a step forward defensively, which is quite encouraging, as that has been the area of his game that he’s had to grow the most in since making his Montréal debut in 2023.
For young midfielders, that’s often tough to do, especially for those who are better suited to playing on the ball, so it’s a credit to Saliba’s mentality that he’s showing improvement in that area.
“I’m just trying to help fill the needs of the team,” Saliba told OneSoccer in French back in March. “If they need me to push higher up the pitch, I can do it, but I can play deeper on the pitch. That’s good for me, it allows me to play different positions in midfield, which has helped my development.”
Just look at his raw defensive numbers, which paint a picture of his improvement in that area. So far in all competitions in 2025, he’s averaging 2.81 interceptions, 6.94 recoveries, 17.47 duels, (winning 60.2% of them) and 7.37 defensive duels per 90 (winning 75.2% of them).
By comparison, he averaged 2.93 interceptions, 5.74 recoveries, 17.39 duels (winning 43.3% of them), and 6.57 defensive duels per 90 (winning 56.7%) in 2024, and 3.24 interceptions, 7.35 recoveries, 18.2 duels (winning 49% of them) and 7.92 defensive duels per 90 (winning 59.7% of them) in 2023 (all stats via WyScout).
In particular, the duels stand out, as he’s become a lot stronger in 50/50 situations than before, especially in terms of coming out on the winning side of more of them. As seen with his 2023 and 2024 numbers, he got stuck into duels at a similar rate, but his win rate has skyrocketed this year, especially in terms of his defensive duels.
That is key to note from a Canadian perspective, as Marsch asks a lot of his players defensively, with his midfielders playing a big role in his press, given that the front four in Canada’s 4-2-2-2 typically plays so aggressively without the ball.
Yet, it feels like it’s no coincidence that this uptick in defensive form has come after Saliba made his debut under Marsch last fall, playing 12 minutes across two appearances in September and October vs. the US and Panama.
His first minutes at the senior level, having never even been in a Canada camp before he was a last-minute injury call-up, he mentioned that experience was quite enlightening, as he got to learn about how the top players play - both on and off the ball.
"We tried to push him to understand the level of speed at which we play, the level of intensity, and he responded really well. And I thought he had a really good camp when we got together (in September)," Marsch said of Saliba. "I think I've made some mistakes in not always including him enough, because I think he's a high-potential player for us."
"I think he fits a lot of the profiles that we like for a player in that midfield position, so I'm excited to spend more time with him and get him integrated into what we do, as I think he has potential to thrive in our system."
Both were quite important to learn from, especially for his defensive game, as Saliba got to see how they defended - and then got to test what he learned against some pretty talented attackers.
Because of that, it’s no surprise that his best stretch of play in 2024 came from September onwards, as that experience seemed to unlock something in him, something that has continued into 2025.
“As soon as I got into the National Team, it helped me a lot, especially in terms of my confidence and my play,” Saliba explained. “The level is high, the ball moves faster, and some players read the game a step ahead, so it helps with how you read the game yourself and your confidence to play with the ball.”
“Then, with what we’re trying to do defensively, that’s especially going to help me, no matter what team I’m at, so that’s something that helped me a lot.”
While Saliba’s defensive growth is important to highlight, and is what paved the way for him to earn this latest Canadian call-up, however, make no mistake - his best work still comes on the ball.
He’s not a huge final product player - he has just two goals and one assist in 74 first-team appearances for CF Montréal - but he more than makes up for it with his ball progression.
When looking at his 2025 numbers, he’s averaging 39.77 passes per 90 (at a 82.5% clip), with 3.23 of those passes being long, while also making 7.37 passes into the final third, 1.75 passes into the box and 11.87 forward passes per 90 (all stats via WyScout).
By comparison, in 2024, he had 48.92 passes per 90 (at a 86.9% clip), with 2.8 of them being long balls, while also averaging 7.66 passes to the final third, 1.01 passes into the box and 12.92 forward passes per 90, showing that he’s had a slight uptick in terms of ball progression (all stats via WyScout).
That’s further shown by the data from FBRef, which better tracks ball progression - in MLS play in 2024, Saliba averaged 5.78 progressive passes per 90 - that number is up to 6.56 per 90 in 2025.
For context, his 2024 numbers had him in the 70th percentile among MLS midfielders, which is very good, but his 2025 numbers now have him in the 79th percentile, which is great. 
Saliba's MLS numbers from 2024 to 2025 via FBRef
Plus, for good measure, he’s also had an uptick in progressive carries from 2024 to 2025, going from 1.04 per 90 to 1.38, showing that he’s progressing the ball in other ways, which helps him create more space for himself to play those dangerous passes he has in his locker.
Now, however, what’s left for Saliba is to turn that into those goals and assists, which appears to be the final step for him to become a truly complete box-to-box midfielder. He’s taken strides in that regard - he’s doubled his xG per 90 from 0.04 to 0.08 so far in 2025 - but he’ll want to keep shooting more, and will want to create more chances given that he’s averaged just 0.3 key passes and 0.02 xA per 90 (all via WyScout).
Yet, given how Saliba has progressed year-over-year, he’ll know that and will look to keep adding that to his game. It’s worth noting that he looked quite bright in that area of his game early in 2025, scoring in Montréal’s first game with a fantastic late-arriving run, something he hasn’t been able to do as much with his team’s struggles in midfield pushing him deeper on the field.
Solid set-up, confident finish. 😮💨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 23, 2025
Nathan Saliba finds the equalizer for @cfmontreal. pic.twitter.com/sRsOYODlui
Perhaps, this Canadian camp can help him recover some of that offensive confidence, however, as it can’t be easy to think about goals as a midfielder on a team that has scored just 10 times in 16 games this season.
Le premier but de Nathan Saliba avec le Bleu-blanc-noir en MLS 🔥
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) September 19, 2024
What a goal from Nathan Saliba 💥#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/djyP5UQqAF
He has the tools to be dangerous in that area - just look at the goal and assist he got in 2024 - so it’ll all be about unlocking them in the right environment.
Nathan Saliba to Josef Martínez 🤌
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 22, 2024
📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/BvxsVSastz pic.twitter.com/REdzFJrhbB
Yet, that’s why it’ll be fascinating to see what he could do for Canada going forward, especially this summer, where he could have a big role to play at the Gold Cup, where Canada will be without midfield rock Stephen Eustáquio due to Club World Cup commitments.
Eustáquio’s absence will put pressure on Ismaël Koné, Niko Sigur, Mathieu Choinière and Saliba to step up, with all of those names vying to be included alongside Eustáquio more regularly going forward, something they’ll audition to do in this window.
Saliba’s had much more limited exposure in this group than the others, but that’ll change this summer - now, it’ll be up to him to seize those opportunities the same way he used those first Canadian minutes to give him a boost, showing why many are so bullish on his potential.
"We think he's a player with high, high potential, and we haven't gotten him in enough with us," Marsch said of Saliba. "So I'm excited to invest the entirety of June with him and really give him a chance to push his level with the National Team."
Having worked so hard to get to this point, Saliba knows he can be on the cusp of a big breakout like the one Marsch speaks of - but to do that, the work is only going to get harder from here, as this is just the start of what he needs to do to reach that potential he has in his locker.
“I think it was the fruits of the hard work I’ve been putting in, so it was good to see the results,” Saliba said of his Canadian debut and the progression he’s had since. “It all happened rather quickly, but it came from that hard work, and I’ve been happy to see it happen; it’s very motivating, and it’s going to keep pushing me forward.”
