Lorenzo Insigne really swung to a new career step. The 30-year-old Naples winger is due to sign a lucrative contract with Toronto FC for the next five and a half years this week, which he has already given his informal yes to join the team this summer. He leaves Naples as a free agent.
This is the beginning of the second wave of the Italian Revolution in Toronto, which boasts numerous diasporas originating in the Apennine Peninsula.
The first wave was started by Sebastian Giovinco, who left Italy unexpectedly at the age of less than 28 years and immediately in his first season in Major League Soccer in 2015 he became the best player of the competition (Most Valuable Player). He finally said goodbye to Toronto after four seasons with a record of 68 goals in 114 starts and an unshakable cult status.
Giovinco has gone crazy about the Canadian capital when he shot one title there (2017), but since then TFC has been worried badly. Already in Giovinco’s last season (2018), the ninth, abysmal 14 points from the playoffs ended in his conference, and last year it did not even reach the average of one point per match.
Therefore, in November, the club hired former national team coach Bob Bradley, who in the combined role of coach and sports director is beginning to rebuild the staff. Toronto bids farewell to one of the three players “designated exempt” (designated player) Jozy Altidor, who will be replaced by Lorenzo Insigne, and actively sell Yeferson Soteld. million in bonuses.
In Toronto, Insigne will team up with Alejandro Pozuel’s 2020 MVP, and in theory other compatriots could join him. It was written about Domenice Criscit, a 35-year-old extreme backbone, but also Giovinco’s return after his termination in Saudi Arabia. There is also another big catch in the game: another Italian representative Andrea Belotti, who has long been attracted by leading European teams. There was also interest from Insigne from Inter Milan or Tottenham.
The multiple Italian national team member and winner of last year’s Euro will say goodbye to Naples as its captain and owner of the fourth largest number of starts in club history (currently 412).
