TFC 2018-2019 player off season moves/speculation/rumours

[Auzzy]

How early do other MLS teams usually re-sign DPs and the like, who are approaching end of contract? I thought a half year in advance (i.e. this summer) is normal, as then it's generally assumed that players can start talking freely to other teams.


One exception is selling a player on early, for a big transfer fee (or if there's a big problem with the player). Not the case with our DPs: given their age, current salary, and a few other issues (like Altidore's injuries) I don't think anyone would offer a big transfer fee anyway. I love the guys, but I think TFC would be lucky if anyone would even take on the rest of their contracts at full salary.


What has really changed here (other than Bez leaving)? There has been (supposed) interest in Seba for a couple of years. Remember Barça? Then Mexico around the CCL last year? Seba has been talking about wanting to re-sign and extend quite a bit as well, at least since last summer. Some of that is just based on questions he receives, but I would say he's clearly also trying to negotiate and apply early pressure, via fans and the media. That's OK, but not something I'm going to get too worried about at this point.


Similarly, at the end of last season Altidore made it sound like he might not even be here for the start of this year, and was quite wistful. Clear at that point Bez was still in town, but we collectively got over it. Something might still happen with Altidore, but I'm not going to get too worked up at this point, until I see how he (or his potential replacement) plays.


I think some of us are losing our shit a bit too much, over very little info. I'm not going to take all this talk too serious, but we could potentially also be a bit upset with guys like Altidore and Seba. I still love these guys, but the whole team pretty much stunk in 2018, and most individual performances weren't stellar. Look how quiet Bradley is. They are all getting paid very well, and have a full year left on contract. Let's see how well everyone does in CCL; let's see if the 2019 MLS campaign starts better. Lots of time to observe and negotiate by the summer. It better not affect their performances or "the locker room." With a good start to 2019, all the players will increase their value, either for TFC or another team.

[OgtheDim]

Manning beginning to move out with a message. Stejskal works for the league website but the Molinaro "just saw Bill Manning" tweet indicates they know they gotta move on the messaging"

Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/samstejskal/status/1085594340204916736

Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/samstejskal/status/1085594341735886849

[Ultra & Proud]

Look how quiet Bradley is.

I think that is on purpose. He was asked about his contract a few months back from the media and said he would never bring it up or let it affect his 2019 season in any way as he is a professional and he expected the same from his team mates. I think he is just leading by example in this regard even though it won't stop Jozy & Giovinco from doing what they do.

[Areathrasher]

Endoh is an international for now. PR application pending.

Per Eric Giacometti

[OgtheDim]

FWIW - Bradley is at the USMNT camp.

[reggie]

Endoh is an international for now. PR application pending.

Per Eric Giacometti

hope so...if we sign janson we are full up with imports.somebody has to go if we are signing 2 more

[Canuck82]

Don't see if this has been mentioned as yet (apologies if it has), but with training camp underway, looks like we have some new numbers to put on kits. Ciman #26, DeLeon #18, with Delgado switching to #8. Endoh now wears #31

[Red CB Toronto]

hope so...if we sign janson we are full up with imports.somebody has to go if we are signing 2 more

It's an easy choice to free up the first international spot, that being Jon Bakero. Opening up the second one gets a little more interesting unless they go out and trade for one. The Reds got 50K in GAM when the traded spot for the rest of the season to the Galaxy on August 3rd.

[reggie]

It's an easy choice to free up the first international spot, that being Jon Bakero. Opening up the second one gets a little more interesting unless they go out and trade for one. The Reds got 50K in GAM when the traded spot for the rest of the season to the Galaxy on August 3rd.

could they loan endoh and bakero say to ottawa for a few months or would it have to be for the season without any recall

[MightyDM]

If I was running the show this is exactly what I would do too. See how the DPs are physically and how they perform. Like every sport does when dealing with players and especially players over 30.

Look at the reactions of certain people on this board and imagine if we signed our 3 DPs for what they want and for 3 or so years. Now say Seba's stats go down in the same trajectory as they have been, say Altidore gets injured as he usually does, and say Bradley hits the wall as has been mentioned. Then there would be calls for Manning's, Vanney's, and Curtis' heads for handicapping our roster with old guys.

Last year when VV was consistently getting injured a lot of folks were hoping he would retire back to Spain and we would go younger. Now it happens and it's a sign of imminent doom.

It should also be noted that we have one of the slower teams in the league across the board. At some point that will need to be addressed and having a slew of players over 30 who were slow in their late 20's isn't going to fix that.

as one of the people who is concerned, it is a series of things: letting Raheem (cheap speed and width) go and then saying for months we have no speed and width; Axtexke; VdW; saying we are having stability this year with a only few key pieces to add - then losing Bez and VV; instability with Jozy and Seba. vs Ciman being the only real acquisition.

It may all be in hand and certainly it is possible to accept VV going for the reasons you say. But it would be nice to see evidence of a plan.

[MightyDM]

Hamilton & Endoh are signed.

https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2019/0...ordan-hamilton

Good. they have both earned it in my opinion and fill gaps. i also think Hamilton has huge potential.

[SoccMan2]

Good. they have both earned it in my opinion and fill gaps. i also think Hamilton has huge potential.

I keep hearing this about Hamilton and his potential, but when? The guy is 23 and still has not put in a decent season. Last year with all the injuries was his chance to shine but what did he do ? Chapman is the other guy had a great chance to prove himself last season with all the injuries and he did nothing . The CPL is waiting with open arms for these two guys I think that might just be their level for these two guys . They have been given enough chances with TFC, their time is just about up.

[MightyDM]

Hamilton is 22. He has a nose for goal. He also seems to disappear from games. Yes, he didn’t seize his chance last year but didn’t they call Jozy dozy Jozy at Sunderland?

i don’t agree about Chapman. I thought he played well when given a central role. Has an eye for the pass.

[gracos]

Werent Tsubasa and Hamilton on the team last year, we didnt resign them, and now were falling back on plan b if not c because our original plans fell through

[ag futbol]

Werent Tsubasa and Hamilton on the team last year, we didnt resign them, and now were falling back on plan b if not c because our original plans fell through

Not the case. I’m unsure why the delay but there were always strong insinuations they’d be resigned before the start of 2019. At their level of salary they are nearly off-budget players. So if it’s not these guys, it’s another cheap alternative

[C.Ronaldo]

VVs job includes future coaching role?

honestly, im not happy with him leaving.
He moved for his family and now hes moving to Qatar with a long term plan to stay there ? what the hell is that.
Money talks but he is putting money in front of family at that point.

Hes an awesome guy but selling out to countries with poor human rights tells me how important money is to him

[OgtheDim]

I look at them as signings for the TFC team that will be playing in the Voyageurs and away against Seattle if we happen to make it that far in the CCL.

[Super]

VVs job includes future coaching role?

honestly, im not happy with him leaving.
He moved for his family and now hes moving to Qatar with a long term plan to stay there ? what the hell is that.
Money talks but he is putting money in front of family at that point.

Hes an awesome guy but selling out to countries with poor human rights tells me how important money is to him

$4 million a year. Hard to say no to that with his career coming to an end.

[Luanda]

Chill out everyone!
And yes, I know we have a game in about one month.

[Ultra & Proud]

letting Raheem (cheap speed and width) go and then saying for months we have no speed and width

His downfall here was the Ottawa match and apparently training habits. Then for a cheap, domestic, and full of potential young player, the Impact dumped him too. There's something up with him and as much as I didn't like it when we lost him, I have really gotten over it.

[Ultra & Proud]

But it would be nice to see evidence of a plan.

A page ago there were complaints about someone leaking our plans and now it's about not leaking our plans.

The season starts in a month. They have a month to do what they're going to do, which I am sure they will. Maybe the guys we get work, maybe they don't as is the case with all players brought in but when the real matches get going, then we'll know the plan. They aren't and shouldn't be under any obligation to fill us, the peanut gallery, in on anything until necessary.

[shwade]

VVs job includes future coaching role?

honestly, im not happy with him leaving.
He moved for his family and now hes moving to Qatar with a long term plan to stay there ? what the hell is that.
Money talks but he is putting money in front of family at that point.

Hes an awesome guy but selling out to countries with poor human rights tells me how important money is to him

Chill Trudeau. Let's not get into the human rights discussion.

[Richard]

Alright folks we're at DEFCON 3 status. Prepare you're roller-blades.

[ensco]

How early do other MLS teams usually re-sign DPs and the like, who are approaching end of contract? I thought a half year in advance (i.e. this summer) is normal, as then it's generally assumed that players can start talking freely to other teams.

In Europe everything always happened 18 months before the end of the contract, but recently there's been a burst of players getting sorted 6 months before the end of their contract (that's what just happened with Fabregas for instance). Very few stars just play out their contract. I'm sure someone will find an example (I couldn't think of one offhand) but it's rare. Mostly the top players are signed or sold before they get inside of 6 months (or sometimes they go out on loan, which is something we could very well see here with one of the DPs this summer, I would wager).

MLS - here are some recent comps for the guys Jozy/Seba would most likely look to in deciding how they feel:

- Lodeiro - signed for 3.5 years in summer 2016, got extended in summer 2018 (ie 18 months prior to end of original deal) until end of 2021.
- Piatti- was signed until June 2018, got extended in October 2017 until end of 2019.Now playing it out.
- Mauro Diaz - sold to UAE in summer 2018 (18 months before end of contract)
- Valeri- got extended 18 months before the end of his first contract in 2016. Now playing out second contract that ends in 2019, same as our guys. Valeri is the same age as Seba and is the closest comp to him, so this one is interesting. But he has nowhere near the pedigree or star power of Seba.
- David Villa and Andrea Pirlo - just played out their contracts but were 37 years old at the end
- Josef Martinez - just extended with 24 months left on his deal (but he was seriously underpaid, is younger, and there is transfer interest, so he is kind of a unique case)

I'd say for their age/stage/situation Jozy/Seba have a point. They deserve at least a conversation. Exact same situation as Piatti and Valeri, but best I can tell, those guys aren’t running to the press to say they are being disrespected. Bradley is wildly overpaid and I don't think he has a case to be extended at anything remotely close to his existing number, so I am not surprised that he has been quiet (it's also not his style to talk, plus he is captain)

In general I suspect most examples of elite players just playing out the final year of the contract are players whose skills have eroded badly and are just done. I therefore predict that all of Giovinco, Altidore and Valeri will be extended or moved by the end of the summer window.

[ag futbol]

His downfall here was the Ottawa match and apparently training habits. Then for a cheap, domestic, and full of potential young player, the Impact dumped him too.

No argument with any of this, other than what the Impact asked him to do (play as a wide forward on the right side was way outside his comfort zone). Not sure if Remi Grande has all his marbles.

He needs to play for a team that will commit to playing him as a fullback. He's facing a huge uphill climb to convert to a wide forward. Doubt that's going to work.

[Richard]

To add to Ensco's point players can talk and sign a contract with another club within 6 months of their current contracts expiry(Bosman Ruling).

Prepare for the rumor machine to be in overdrive.

[MightyDM]

His downfall here was the Ottawa match and apparently training habits. Then for a cheap, domestic, and full of potential young player, the Impact dumped him too. There's something up with him and as much as I didn't like it when we lost him, I have really gotten over it.

I was listing all the decisions that seemed odd. Your points are fair enough but letting him go without a replacement is odd. For that matter so was Hasler departure. I guess I am trying to say we didn’t go from perfect to weird in the last two weeks, there were lots of decisions that were odd or did not work out last year too.

[MightyDM]

A page ago there were complaints about someone leaking our plans and now it's about not leaking our plans.

The season starts in a month. They have a month to do what they're going to do, which I am sure they will. Maybe the guys we get work, maybe they don't as is the case with all players brought in but when the real matches get going, then we'll know the plan. They aren't and shouldn't be under any obligation to fill us, the peanut gallery, in on anything until necessary.

to be fair, I said “evidence of a plan”. Evidence might be Manning saying “we plan on keeping everyone and only making minor changes” and then keeping the core and only making minor changes; or, “we will do our best to keep the core but have to make some changes to stay competitive” or “we are looking for value in our recruiting” and bringing in some South Americans (as Payne did). What we have seen is not evidence of the plan that Manning told us (ie stability) it’s evidence of change that appears to be out of his control. So it’s fair to be a little worried

[Areathrasher]

To add to Ensco's point players can talk and sign a contract with another club within 6 months of their current contracts expiry(Bosman Ruling).

Prepare for the rumor machine to be in overdrive.

Bosman only applies to players playing in the EU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling

[barticusz]

Hahaha, ain’t that the truth.