Addition by subtraction
Is Toronto's tardiness in transfers related to the inability to sell first?
With just 37 days to go until the start of the 2023 MLS season, it’s safe to say that TFC fans are starting to get a little restless. Outside of the signing of Adama Diomande — a player that we will diplomatically call a “depth piece” — it’s been a lot of smoke without much fire in Toronto.
Sean Johnson is said to be close (and would be a significant add), but he’s off with the USMNT now at Camp Cupcake, so we will probably have to wait a bit longer to learn who will be in goal on Feb 25. I mean, surely they have a back-up plan in place if that falls through, right?
Right?
Norwegian Sigurd Rosted is an intriguing centre-half that’s been strongly linked. It’s a bit of a “trust us” signing in that the Danish league is hard to get a handle on as a comparison level (and they don’t track advanced numbers to dig into), but Brøndby is a good side and it seems like a player that would work in MLS, however, it’s a bit worrisome that the reported imminent signing has been “imminent” for more than a week now.
Again, that’s 37 days.
Fans are less concerned about the other side of transfer business — sales — but there’s a concern that the failure to move one or more of the young attacking prospects might be holding up other moves in. Bob Bradley has made comments to suggest that TFC didn’t have the financial ability to add a big name third DP earlier this year. We assumed he meant internally they didn’t have the budget, but it’s also possible he means they don’t have the room to add the cap space that a DP requires.
The nightmare possibility here is that they need to get that $20-million for Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty before they can add more. Let’s hope not. For one, I find it hard to believe that they can get $20-million for him, but what the hell do I know about transfer value these days?
It’s unlikely that they are that up against it, but they do probably need to move out some young players to allow them to significantly push above the cap threshold with allocation. Marshall-Rutty is the most valuable prospect they have. Jayden Nelson might fetch something too.
Ayo Akinola won’t, but getting his salary off the books is the value there. They’ve apparently been trying to give him away though, without much luck. Probably because they are paying him SIX HUNDRED THOUDSAND DOLLARS this year. Ouch.
The point is that, as a win-now club, having kids on the roster that might turn out is useless. As is players taking up $600,000 but playing at a $100,000 level.
They need MLS pieces now. I’m not sure how to say “all in” in Italian, but that’s what they’ve done, so no sense going half measure. Start to sell. Start to move. Take risks.
Go Voi tutti! (I think that’s it, anyway)
So, “no sales” is as problematic as “no adds” right now, really. As stated, they are kind of tied to each other.
The hope is that Chicago’s sale of Jhon Duran (see link above) might have set the market and that we will see some other dominos start to fall across the league. Certainly, TFC isn’t the only team dragging its feet on signings this January. It’s worth remembering that in most years we’d still be about 5 days off the start of camps at the time of writing.
It’s not yet time to panic, I assure you (again). However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t double checking my inbox every day to make sure I haven’t missed a release. The moves do need to start coming in soon.
Reminder: 37 days.
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