RED-LETTER DAY
Striker signs new deal to stay with Toronto through 2022 season
TFC striker Jozy Altidore signs a three-year extension to keep him in town through 2022.
His goals spoke for themselves. But Jozy Altidore really endeared himself to Toronto FC supporters fans in an epic speech after the team’s 2017 MLS Cup parade.
“I just want to let you guys know that I’ve been partying since Saturday … And baby, I’m TFC ’til I die,” the burly forward, clearly feeling no pain two days later, said after a short but passionate homage to Toronto fans at the Nathan Phillips Square celebration.
Altidore dropped the microphone and then started dancing with his teammates.
The 29-year-old U.S. international took a major step toward that commitment Thursday with news he had signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him in Toronto through the 2022 season.
“This is my home, this is where I want to be and this is where I want to keep building,” said Altidore, who had his mother, Giselle, with him at Thursday’s news conference.
“I love playing at BMO (Field), it’s no secret. I love scoring goals there,” he added. “And so to have the opportunity to keep scoring goals there and to keep building what we have going on here is a dream come true for me.”
Altidore’s decision to stay is welcome news after the sudden, unexpected departures of Italian star Sebastian Giovinco and Spanish playmaker Victor Vazquez, who combined for 45 goals and 46 assists over the last two seasons.
Altidore, who has 60 goals and 20 assists in 114 appearances for Toronto in all competitions, becomes the face of the franchise. He ranks second to Giovinco on TFC’s all-time goal-scoring list and stands eighth on the alltime combined appearances list with 114.
A two-time MLS all-star, he is one of nine players to have made at least 100 appearances for the club.
While injuries restricted Altidore to just 13 regular-season games last season, he has a history of coming through for the club when it mattered.
“On the biggest days, Jozy’s played the biggest of all,” coach Greg Vanney said.
A physical specimen, Altidore can be a bull in a china shop who can cause defenders fits while making room for his teammates. But he also has a delicate touch. Reporters who cover the team know the quickest way to have Altidore shut down is to ask him about him- self. But quiz him on a teammate and he is only too happy to respond. Away from the field, he has a young son and is in a relationship with U.S. tennis star Sloane Stephens, currently ranked fourth in the WTA. Given his new deal and her career earnings of $13.6 million (U.S.), they truly are a power couple.
While Giovinco’s contract talks went south quickly, team president Bill Manning said he saw all the right signs during a coffee meeting with Altidore at training camp in California.
“For me, that’s really what put it over the top,” Manning said. “Because I saw the hunger in his eyes and how much he loved it here. And he was willing to work with us (on the contract) and once we kind of talked that through, we were able to create a contract that made sense for us and made sense for him.”
Manning declined to detail Altidore’s new deal.