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As Europe comes calling, the secret of Nathan Saliba is getting out
Days before the Concacaf Gold Cup started, Ismaël Koné rubbed his hand over his face. When the Canada midfielder's eyes emerged from behind his palm, they were as wide as they've ever been.
When Koné was asked about Nathan Saliba, his fellow CF Montréal product, he wanted the great secret of the up-and-coming 21-year-old inside Canada's national team to get out during the Gold Cup.
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'His qualities are insane,' Koné said of Saliba. 'He's one of those players that I can't wait to flourish. Because he has so much to show, a lot of gifts to give. And I just can't wait for you guys to see where is he going to end up, and how big he's going to be for the country.'
Over the next week or so, Koné was proven right.
Saliba made his first two starts for Canada in its first two Gold Cup matches, and he showed his high-end finishing ability in each game.
'We really believe that he can be an important player for us,' Canada head coach Jesse Marsch said.
Saliba's breakout summer comes at a pivotal time. Multiple sources have told The Athletic that an impending transfer from CF Montréal to RSC Anderlecht in Belgium is all but finished and that Saliba will depart MLS after the Gold Cup.
He will become the latest Canadian to arrive in Belgium with plans of succeeding in Europe, following Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan before him.
But Saliba's story is different. It is one of a player who has quietly, and privately, pushed himself. What happens next could change Canada's national team not just in the Gold Cup, but next summer in the World Cup.
'I would like to go to the highest level possible,' Saliba confidently told The Athletic. 'I don't want to put a ceiling on myself.'
Raised in the quiet Montreal suburb of Longueuil, Saliba did not garner the attention throughout Canadian soccer circles that many of his eventual teammates did. He stuck close with his parents, both born in Haiti, and his older brother and sister. Saliba still lives with his family to this day in Montreal.
It was within his family home that Saliba developed the quiet aggressiveness he believes defines him.
'Anything and everything,' Saliba said when asked what brings out his competitiveness.
The French social deduction game Loup Garou helped Saliba learn how to read people and their eyes, a quality he still shows on the pitch. Playing hockey as a goaltender, Saliba detested letting shots by him, but he also learned to quickly adapt to different environments.
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Then, there's the family pool table.
'This is where it gets very competitive,' Saliba said, pointing a finger. With a cue in hand, Saliba learned not to be afraid of competing against his elders. 'My dad, he's got old tricks from back in the day.'
When a pre-teen Saliba arrived at CS Longueuil, his first competitive club, one of his first coaches saw those qualities as he played in older age groups.
'When you see (Saliba) at the beginning, he liked to play soccer, but he liked the competition more,' Christophe Vollard told The Athletic. 'He was someone who perseveres.'
Saliba originally came up as a winger with a penchant for attacking the goal. But unlike some of his peers, Saliba wasn't raised to have every advantage. He didn't have the benefit of extra paid training sessions or the opportunity to showcase himself to a wider audience.
'There was no doubt that this was a different player than others,' Vollard said.
Vollard saw a teenager doing things most teenagers did not do: Saliba prioritized his diet, eschewing fast food for healthy meals. He maximized his sleep while friends were starting to stay out late. And he learned the benefits of proper recovery after training sessions in a way that many professionals take years to understand.
'Invisible preparation,' is the term Vollard uses to describe Saliba.
Saliba matched his off-field attributes with high-end soccer IQ. He separated himself with how well his 'information taking' skills were, according to Vollard.
'He could really feel soccer,' Vollard said.
Even when Saliba did move to the CF Montréal academy – 'If you want to be seen by Canada Soccer, you have to go to Montréal's academy,' Vollard said – he still didn't garner the attention that, say, Koné did.
But those closest to Saliba saw his immense soccer brain and how his ability to transition between an attacking and defending midfielder made him valuable. Saliba was a teenaged No. 8 who could break teams apart with dribbling prowess, power and a penchant to pass through channels with ease.
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That sense of secrecy is partly what is driving Saliba's impending transfer.
Few would have watched Saliba more closely than Anderlecht sporting director Olivier Renard, who spent nearly five years with CF Montréal in multiple management roles. In that time, Renard would have seen Saliba became a modern midfielder. Now, Renard doesn't want any other European club to get its hands on a player who was responsible enough, without sacrificing his penchant for game-changing flair.
'We're a different breed,' Saliba said of how growing up in Montreal has given him confidence and personality on the ball. 'It's a natural swagger.'
In the 2023 and 2024 MLS seasons, Saliba only earned the trust of the coaching staff with regular starts later in the season.
This season, his quality was too evident to hide. No midfielder has earned more starts (15) for Montreal, and interim head coach Marco Donadel has employed Saliba in more attacking spots on the pitch.
'It has helped me grow a lot, especially as a leader,' Saliba said of his changed role.
All it took was a few coaches, including Marsch, to turn the keys over to Saliba. While he plays as more of a defensive-minded midfielder for Canada, he can still break teams apart when he sees the opportunity.
GOAL 🇨🇦x6
NATHAN SALIBA, TAKE A BOW ⭐️
The #CFMTL midfielder, linked to Anderlecht 🇧🇪, scores his first #CanMNT goal to make it 6-0 vs. Honduras 🤯
🔴 Watch Gold Cup on OneSoccer & TSN
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 18, 2025
GOAL FOR CANADA! 🇨🇦
Nathan Saliba gets Canada on the board! 👏
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 21, 2025
'Now I can use both qualities in one position or the other,' Saliba said with a smile.
Saliba has had to fall back on one of his earliest developed qualities – perseverance – to find a home with the national team.
Marsch has always rated Saliba, but he didn't heavily involve him in camps once he took over in May 2024.
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'I would fault my management over the last year,' Marsch said. 'And I kept saying to (Saliba), 'Look, you're going to be a big part of this, and I believe in you.' But when you look at the (no. 6) position, we were very deep. And I didn't feel like we should leave anyone off of those rosters. I tried to get him to believe that I was telling him the truth. I'm sure he doubted it at some times.'
Saliba's two goals for Canada showcase how his confidence in attack outweighs any self-doubt. It's a finishing ability that very few Canadian midfielders have, and none had at 21. Saliba's summer could be a harbinger of bigger things to come and is a reminder of a couple things.
First, a familiar refrain: Canada's soccer landscape is littered with quality players who are just in need of professional opportunities. See: Bombito, Moïse. Like Saliba, Bombito was virtually unheard of in Canada before breaking out and earning a transfer to Ligue 1's Nice two years after playing in USL's League Two.
Second, Marsch continued to tell anyone who would listen of his own belief that 'young players can develop in the national team environment.'
Canada's national team should not be seen as the place for finished products to ply their trade. If Marsch can harness a player's upward trajectory into his high-tempo style – and his work with young players at various Red Bull stops suggests that he can – then his World Cup starting XIs could feature young names many Canadians will be unaware of.
Saliba's Gold Cup has moved him from a World Cup roster possibility closer to being a lock.
'(Saliba) has a really good combination of intelligence, athleticism, technical ability, tactical awareness, responsibility on the pitch, commitment to the game, ability to run and cover ground, aggressiveness, a good eye for good attacking plays and a good eye for final passing plays,' Marsch said.
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Saliba's emergence could change the look of Canada's midfield at the World Cup. If he plays consistently in Belgium, could Saliba lock up a starting spot beside Stephen Eustáquio? Saliba's strength in pressing forward with Canada's attack could allow Eustáquio to thrive in his more natural holding role. And with inconsistency still plaguing Koné's game, Marsch could then look to use him as a late-game spark off the bench.
With more strength and options in midfield, Marsch will then be hard pressed to find places for Mathieu Choinière and Niko Sigur, both of whom have had excellent Gold Cups. It's a good problem for Marsch to have, and it's one that Saliba could essentially compound in Belgium.
'I want to keep progressing year after year and just reach Europe if possible,' Saliba said. 'Because I think once you reach it, you're on the good path to reaching a very high level.'
This summer, Saliba has taken greater strides on that path than ever before. Because the secret of Nathan Saliba is out.
'If you just put the whole package of what you want out of a (No. 6) that plays in your midfield, he's pretty much shown that over the last month,' Marsch said. 'I'm glad he trusted me after I let him down a bunch of times.'
