Similar paths for Kinumbe and Bayiha in joining the Bleu-blanc-noir
Daniel Kinumbe and Clément Bayiha have spent quite a bit of time together over the past few years. Born just a few days apart, both were in the same year when with the Montreal Impact Academy, playing on the Impact’s U19 squad alongside Mathieu Choinière. Both took part in this year’s preseason training camp with the first team and ended up signing their first professional contracts with the Impact’s affiliate club in USL, Ottawa Fury FC, just two weeks apart this summer.
Now, at the same time once again, both signed their Homegrown contracts with the Bleu-blanc-noir in preparation for the 2019 season.
“I think we’ve been following in each other’s footsteps since we were born,” said Kinumbe. “We’ve been on the same path for quite a while now. We often say we’re twins with a different mom.”
In what was a physically gruelling training camp prior to the 2018 season, both impressed head coach Rémi Garde, who saw an interesting margin of progression in the Academy products. Their time spent with the Fury FC in USL will have allowed both to finetune certain aspects of their game which they had already discussed with Garde.
“It was an experience,” added Kinumbe. “Playing with men is different; it’s physical, and the speed and intelligence of the game are very different. I’ll be able to use what I learned in Ottawa with the Impact.”
For Bayiha, next year technically won’t be his first time sporting a Bleu-blanc-noir jersey. The young, versatile player dressed for the Bleu-blanc-noir in a friendly against Ottawa in September, scoring the game’s lone goal which allowed the Impact to come away with the win.
Now that the youngster has put pen to paper, there’ll be plenty more opportunities to do the same in the near future.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Bayiha. “It’s the biggest moment for me, a moment I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid. But it isn’t over. Hopefully it’s just the beginning.”
