LAVAL — Marie-Yasmine Alidou believed she would one day return home to play in the Northern Super League from the moment it launched.
Now she’s part of a growing group of established Canadian internationals choosing to continue their careers in the fledgling women’s professional league.
Alidou, an attacking midfielder affectionately known as “Mimi,” joined Montreal Roses FC last week on a transfer from the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns, following Canada teammates and recent AFC Toronto signings Shelina Zadorsky and Sabrina D’Angelo to the NSL.
“It shows that this league is getting to another level,” Alidou said Wednesday after training at Stade Boréale. “It will just keep getting better in terms of eyeing prospects around the world or players from the national team, and I think it’s just getting started.
“More and more people around the world are talking about this league.”
Canadian veterans Erin McLeod and Desiree Scott played out the twilight of their careers during the NSL’s inaugural season, and players such as DB Pridham and Holly Ward earned their first national team call-ups with strong showings in the league.
But Alidou, Zadorsky and D’Angelo — like Vancouver Rise midfielder Quinn before them — represent established members of Canada’s national team who left top-tier leagues abroad to continue their careers in the NSL.
In Alidou’s case, she believes the NSL offers the best path toward securing a roster spot at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
“I’m still in my prime. At my age, I feel like I’m in top shape,” said the 31-year-old Alidou, of nearby Saint-Hubert, Que. “There’s a World Cup next year, so coming back home and being monitored by the national team, for me the timing is right.”
A late bloomer, Alidou spent four seasons at the Université du Québec à Montréal before beginning a professional career in Europe that took her through France, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Austria and Portugal.
She made her national team debut in 2022 and has scored six goals in 22 appearances for Canada, becoming a mainstay under Casey Stoney after former coach Bev Priestman left her off the roster for both the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Roses offer an opportunity for Alidou to play more often — in her desired role as an attacking midfielder — after she played out of position and saw her minutes drop in Portland, which declined her contract option for 2027.
It’s a move that Stoney fully supports, said Roses sporting director Marinette Pichon.
“When we had the final approach for Mimi, I called Casey, and she had a positive message in telling us that regardless of the league, you have to get playing time,” Pichon said in a phone interview. “But the NSL today is much stronger and much better organized to receive international-level players.”
The trend isn’t limited to Canadians. The Roses unveiled Alidou’s signing in a joint announcement with right back Ève Périsset, who has represented France at the Olympics and two World Cups and has played for Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
Périsset will miss eight to 12 weeks after suffering an injury during training shortly after arriving in Montreal, but Pichon said signing players of that calibre still marks another step for the Roses and the league.
“I’ve been running after them for 18 months now, and my knees are starting to hurt,” she said of Alidou and Périsset. “It means the work we’re doing on expansion and attractiveness is taking shape, with signings that give the league even more visibility.
“These are players who are still on national teams, so they can also, through word of mouth, help convince players that the NSL has reached a different level this year. Whether it’s the athleticism, the quality of players, the infrastructure or the stadiums, we’ve crossed a threshold.”
Alidou said she never imagined herself playing professionally in Canada because, despite consistently fielding a top women’s national team, the country lacked a domestic league.
That reality, she said, didn’t make much sense to players from other nations.
“Canada is one of the top countries for national teams, so the fact that there was never a professional women’s soccer league here was always a little weird for everyone elsewhere in the world,” Alidou said. “The fact it is there now, I think that there are more players now who maybe want to be part of that, because they know Canada is a good nation for football and women’s football.”
The NSL, which announced last week it will add a seventh franchise in Winnipeg next season, said players made roughly $75,000 on average last season, placing the league “among the highest globally.”
Alidou will not be available when the second-place Roses (6-2-3) visit Calgary Wild FC on Friday because the summer transfer window does not officially open until next Tuesday.
She could make her debut July 23, when Montreal hosts Zadorsky, D’Angelo and AFC Toronto at Stade Boréale.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2026.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
