it’s now official announcement Former designated player Carlos Salcedo has left Toronto and is on his way back to Liga MX. The 28-year-old centre-back, who joined Tigress last winter in exchange for attacking Jeferson Soterdo, has been dealing with some family issues and has been asked to return to his home country so he can better handle them. . TFC granted his request.
A source familiar with the situation said Toronto and Salcedo have completely broken up. there is no. Sources say this is a true mutual termination, with Salcedo set to become a free agent once the deal is finalized.
TFC signed Salcedo in hopes of becoming one of the best defenders in the MLS, but he turned it down during a brief stint at the club that conceded the third-most goals in the MLS this season. far below. He could have turned things around over time, but his pending departure will probably not come as much of a surprise in Toronto. He opened a spot, ruined a hefty contract (he was making $2.35 million in 2022, according to the MLS Players Association; his contract was guaranteed until 2024), and gave the TFC many valuable prizes. It gave us a little wiggle room. They continue to rebuild their roster under first-year head coach and sports director Bob Bradley.
It’s already been a very busy 2022 for TFC. In the last six months the club has offloaded four of his picks. Striker Josie Altidore was acquired in February from a DP deal that was set to pay him $4.5 million this season. Playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo was signed for a $11 million transfer fee in 2019 and traded to Inter Miami last week. Now Salcedo is out in the open. His departure meant that the TFC essentially paid him his $6 million transfer fee and nearly $3 million salary for his tumultuous one-his season at Soterdo and a disappointing half-season at Salcedo. means
The club currently has just one DP on its roster, Italian star Lorenzo Insigne. The 31-year-old has agreed to a league-high deal of $15 million a year through the summer of 2026. He finished his Serie A season with Napoli before arriving in Toronto last month. The TFC hopes he can debut in his MLS on July 23rd.
Toronto are also eyeing one of his fellow Italian internationals, former Juventus winger Federico Bernardeschi.Atletico Madrid and AS Roma are also reportedly interested in signing the 28-year-old free agent. It is A source said Toronto made a strong offer, albeit not at the level of his Insigne deal. Negotiations have had a bit of ups and downs as Bernardeschi is still serious about staying in Europe and unsure whether to move to MLS. But the club are optimistic they can convince him to cross the Atlantic.
As if that wasn’t enough, Toronto made another big deal last week in addition to its Pozuelo deal, replacing Colorado-born Toronto and international midfielder Marc Anthony Kay with a total of 1. Won on packages over $. Over the next three years he has a $1 million allotment.
In terms of volume, importance and cost, the move is basically unprecedented in MLS history. No team has rotated so many DPs in such a short amount of time. No team has paid a player anywhere near the salary that the TFC agreed with his Insigne. Few have pursued a player with the age and profile of Bernadeski.
But regardless of cost, it’s TFC’s mission to make headlines. 75% of parent company MLSE, which also owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, is managed by Canadian media companies Bell Enterprises and Rogers Communications. This group wants to spread the word about sports in Canada. They want TFC to be part of it. Even if that means spending a record amount of money on replacements, making it significantly cheaper than when you got the DP.
This is a bold approach and one that breaks the mold of MLS. As a member of another club’s technical staff, athletic Last week, half of you wanted to applaud TFC’s recent move for being so ambitious, and the other half wanted to shout about how ridiculous the TFC looks. What kind of club would offload a player like Pozuelo for the Peanuts despite his contract expiring in a few months? Then dumped him and replaced him less than six months after signing the deal? Who’s chasing his prime attacker who played a real role in a team that won the Euros months ago?
This is not normal behavior for MLS teams. But TFC was not normal. After a brutal 2021, Toronto is still struggling on the field and remains 12th in the East as it ended in a 2-2 draw at home against Western Conference losers San Jose on Saturday. There is a possibility. more interesting.
Bradley and club president Bill Manning, who have been involved in all the good and bad of the past five years, are trying to take the plane apart and reassemble it in the air. The TFC seemed hampered in the years leading up to this season by a lack of proper long-term vision and poor choices. Klopp, a new player, coupled with the inevitable additions this offseason, especially at the back, feels likely to keep TFC on track.
Teams interested in Dallas, Vancouver and Lariere
Multiple MLS teams are interested in signing Canadian defender Richie Laria, who is likely to leave Nottingham Forest on loan this season, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Laria, 27, was sold to Forest by Toronto FC for $1 million last January, but made just five appearances in the championship last season. Forest were promoted to the Premier League and were active in the transfer market. Neco Williams joins LiverpoolLaryea is exploring his own move to secure playing time ahead of the World Cup in Qatar this fall.
Among the teams of interest are the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas, according to two sources. Sources say Laria is also in talks with several European teams. Lariaa spent his first six seasons of his professional career in his MLS. In his first three of his seasons at Orlando, he spent time as a midfielder for City before being waived to join Toronto FC and converted to right wing-back. Laria has been active in his last two seasons at Toronto, where he has scored seven goals and five assists in 47 appearances at right-back.
If he returns, Laria, who started 14 World Cup qualifiers for Canada, MLS allocation processInterested teams will need to trade up to the top of the rankings to acquire Laryea. FC Cincinnati currently holds No. 1 in the allocation standings. The club made several deals this season and quickly regained the top spot after making deals. FC Dallas holds his #2 spot in the allocation rankings.
Louisville City Winder Draws MLS, European Interest
US U-19 centre-back Josh Winder is attracting a lot of interest from MLS and teams across Europe, according to multiple sources.
Winder, 17, captained the US U-19 team last month and his impressive performances for the youth varsity and USL have caught the attention of teams in North America and abroad. Multiple of his MLS teams have expressed a desire to sign him, according to sources, with two of his teams in the Western Conference and one of his teams in the Eastern Conference pitching recently. I’m here. However, MLS is battling an uphill battle to sign Winder. One of his reasons for that is out of concern that Winder won’t be able to pick the team he originally signed with. Because of the high prices MLS clubs ask to transfer players abroad.
Louisville City have high Winder sales rates and seven-figure transfer requests, with multiple Champions League teams in touch with their USL side. This includes the bigger teams in the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga, but sources say Winder and Louisville City are among the Champions League teams he can play and continue to develop. Focused. That probably means their sights are set on Holland, Belgium, Austria, or Scandinavia.
Winder’s move abroad follows Louisville’s Jonathan Gomez to Real Sociedad B and Orange County’s Cobi Henry to French club Stade de Reims for a reported $700,000 USL record. Become the latest young USL player. , and potential performance bonuses.
Chicago, Chelsea in talks for Slonina
The Chicago Fire and Chelsea are still in talks about US Men’s National Team goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, but have yet to reach an agreement on the transfer of the talented Netminder.
A verbal agreement had been reached between the Premier League team and Chicago, according to reports this week, but sources said it was not true. Up to this point, the discussion remains. Fire is still awaiting a written proposal from Chelsea.
Fire received an offer from Real Madrid for Slonina earlier this year, but the offer was well below what the club sees as market value for Slonina, and his recent transfer in MLS (US goalkeeper Matt’s including $7 million in transfers). Turner joined Arsenal earlier this year.
Sources said Slonina hopes to be sold in this window and loaned out to Chicago for the rest of the season. Starter Chris Brady awaits in the wings. Brady recently signed a long-term contract extension with the Fire.
(Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)
