In a week of change at Toronto FC, more new faces will soon be on the way.
We just don’t know who yet.
But MLSE (TFC’S owners) president and CEO Tim Leiweke revealed the side has earmarked several Italian players to become the clubs newest DP.
Leiweke and head coach Ryan Nelsen already have an off-season trip to Italy scheduled and have been in talks with agents and players about potential moves.
“I don’t want to be the GM, but we will be involved on the DPs,” Leiweke said. “I would say that our involvement will be on big contracts and big commitments on behalf of our owners. We will be involved in trying to find the right DPs and trying to make the right deals.
(MORE: Kevin Payne’s time at Toronto FC ends after nine months)
And it seems as though Toronto’s head coach is increasingly becoming the man who calls the shots in their player recruitment policy after GM Kevin Payne left earlier this week. Leiweke revealed the former Blackburn and Queens Park Rangers defender has some exciting irons in the fire.
“Ryan is helping and leading the charge on identifying the players that he wants,” Leiweke said. “They are DPs and they are marquee DPs and he is anxious and excited about that. Ryan and I are 100 percent on the same page on this January window and what we are looking for and on the players we are looking for. We have had specific conversations about targets.”
So although the identity of the DPs Toronto are targeting remains a secret, what areas should they look to strengthen in as Nelsen continues his long-term rebuild? Having only scored 23 goals in 26 games, the second lowest total in the league, Toronto should be looking for Italian attacker to lead them into the future.
But why are they specifically focusing on Italians?Good question.
Well, after digging through some demographics on the City of Toronto, the 2011 census states that 8.6 percent of Toronto natives are from Italian backgrounds which equates to roughly 475,090 people. That is a huge market to tap into and after their MLS rivals Montreal have fared so well since importing Italian stars such as Marco Di Vaio, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pisanu, can you blame TFC for trying to get in on that?
Even if Nelsen does plump for some star veterans, Italian greats have always been known to keep themselves in tremendous shape and the psychical demands of MLS haven’t taken too big a toll on Montreal’s Italian contingent.
Ready yourself for plenty of rumors regarding Italian soccer stars leaving Serie A for BMO Field in the next few months.
