TORONTO — Fresh off an impressive win over Sporting Kansas City in their home opener on Saturday, Toronto FC brass are not resting on their laurels.
According to president and general manager Kevin Payne (above), the short- and long-term plans have will not be adjusted significantly no matter what the day-to-day results on the pitch are, positive or negative. The new normal will continue to be an ongoing dedication to leaving no rock unturned with respect to bringing in players who can help the team get to the playoffs after six seasons of futility.
“This process will continue for almost the whole season, and certainly for the first half of the season we are going to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to add talent to our team,” Payne told reporters following Toronto’s training session on Tuesday.
In that vein, Payne admitted that an announcement on another significant player signing is imminent.
“It will possibly be a DP. We are trying to find out if there is a way to do the deal now and not necessarily make him a Designated Player, or to possibly decide later in the year if he is a DP,” Payne said. “He would be a DP-level player. Whether he is actually a DP or not, we may have some flexibility there.”
READ: Blue vs. Red: The top five moments in the Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC rivalry
Rumors in the blogosphere over the last week have suggested that the player that Toronto have been negotiating with is Argentine forward Maximiliano Urruti of Newell’s Old Boys.
The TFC head honcho did not mention many specifics regarding the player in question on Tuesday, but he did admit that two of his trusted lieutenants are currently conducting negotiations in Argentina.
“Pat [Onstad] and Fran [O’Leary] are both down in Argentina right now. We’re pretty close to announcing a new signing. That will happen in the next day or two,” Payne said. “There are also a couple of other players that we are looking at that we think will really help us.”
