Toronto FC have bolstered their forward corps ahead of the 2016 season opener with a local product, as the team announced the signing of Molham Babouli on Saturday.
Babouli, 23, comes to the MLS team after spending the 2015 season with TFC's USL team, Toronto FC II, where he scored four goals and four assists in 20 appearances. Prior to that, he was a member of Toronto FC's academy, winning the League1 Ontario MVP award in 2014 with TFC's academy senior team.
“We are excited to sign Mo to the first team after a strong preseason. He continues to excel with the opportunities placed in front of him,” said Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko in a team statement. “Mo is the first product of the full player pathway designed at Toronto FC, playing within our academy to signing professionally for TFC II and now the first team. We are very proud of his progression and know he will be a welcomed addition to the first team. We must also give special thanks to Greg Vanney, Jason Bent and Michael Stefano along with our other academy coaches for their important role in Mo’s development over the past two seasons.”
Babouli's play last year earned him call-ups to the Canadian U-23 team for the 2015 Pan American Games and the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers.
Toronto begin their 10th season in MLS on Sunday on the road against the New York Red Bulls (1:30 pm ET, TSN4/RDS2 in Canada, MLS Live in US).
