Toronto FC got their big one over the line on Monday, when they announced the signing of Pozuelo to a DP contract from Belgian club Genk.
With Pozuelo’s protracted, dramatic, complex transfer saga out of the way, TFC are now turning their full attention toward TAM targets. A source told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday that it’s still up in the air whether the team will use their available TAM on one or two new signings. If the team uses all their available TAM on one player, it’s most likely that the new signing will be a winger. If the team splits their TAM between two new signings, they’d either bring in two wingers or a winger and a defender. The source added that Argentine winger Jonathan Menendez, who TFC were pursuing earlier this winter, is no longer a target.
The source also confirmed that the team is looking to get out from under
Gregory van der Wiel’s contract. The Dutch defender reportedly got into an altercation with TFC head coach Greg Vanney early in preseason and hasn’t taken part in team activities since. A separate source told MLSsoccer.com last week that van der Wiel has been training individually at TFC’s practice facility since the incident while he and the club work to resolve his status.
Until the European, Chinese and Middle Eastern transfer windows re-open later this year, TFC are essentially down to three options in regards to van der Wiel: Trade him to another MLS team, waive him/buy him out or keep him. The only option that would offer any budget relief would be to trade van der Wiel, but, considering his hefty salary, up-and-down 2018 form and the reported altercation with Vanney, sources around the league expect TFC to have a hard time moving him without covering a significant portion of his budget charge.