Although not a team usually associated with the movement,Ā Toronto FCĀ are all in on #PlayYourKids for the 2021 season.
The clubās president, Bill Manning, detailed the shiftĀ in philosophy in anĀ interview on Waking the Red Weekly podcastĀ when asked about a quiet offseason on the transfer market.
āOne of the reasons weāve opted not to bring in a lot of new players is because we actually have a lot of faith in our young players and we think some of them are going to have breakouts,ā Manning said. āSo rather than going out like weāve done in the past and getting an MLS experienced player ā¦ weāre going to be looking toĀ Jayden \[Nelson], andĀ Ralph \[Priso], andĀ Noble \[Okello] andĀ Julian \[Dunn] and those guys because now is the time. You know, we have a young guy inĀ Jordan PerruzzaĀ who is very under the radar, who is another one weāre really high on.ā
Manning also heaped praise on highly-touted homegrown midfielderĀ Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, albeit cautiously.
āIām not going to applaud Jahkeele too much because heās still 16 years old, but that kidās ceiling is higher than any player Iāve worked with,ā Manning said. āAt RSL, we built Brooks Lennon, Fito Ovalle, Sebastian Soto, Corey Baird, they all came from our academy in Arizona, so Iāve seen young talent. This kid is as talented a young player as Iāve seen.ā
That said, Toronto FC have never been shy about splashing cash on big-money players, but Manning said the club will be smart when it comes to the search for a third Designated Player.
āWe want to make sure when weāre going to spend millions of dollars ā and in some cases 10's of millions of dollars ā you know, thatās a heavy decision,ā Manning said. āWe want to make sure itās right."