Urruti hits pitch for Reds
‘We think he’ll bang in all kinds of goals,’ coach says of young striker pursued by team since pre-season
At just 22 years old, Maximiliano Urruti is being hailed as the saviour of floundering Toronto FC, even though the Argentine striker still hasn’t officially signed with the club.
After months of speculation, the youngster took to the pitch with the Reds on Wednesday at the club’s training facility. But a final agreement with his former team in Argentina, Newell’s Old Boys, still hasn’t been inked and continues to be held up by complications.
“I thought the deal was done six months ago,” TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen quipped after practice. “It’s a bit complicated.”
The Reds have been chasing Urruti, who ceased playing with his club even though he remained under contract, since at least the Major League Soccer preseason.
The striker struggled with Newell’s, battling veterans for a starting spot and coming up short. Even so, he wanted an improved contract and refused to honour his current one.
He entered into talks with a number of clubs, including TFC, and when Newell’s got wind of this, the Argentine club accused the TFC of improperly luring Urruti. Any chances of a deal were quashed.
But this week both clubs released statements on their websites saying a verbal agreement had been reached, just days after the transfer window closed.
It now remains unclear what the final agreement will entail as Newell’s continues to battle for compensation. Either TFC will end up paying a hefty transfer fee or Newell’s will be compensated through a tribunal.
Nelsen is hopeful he’ll be able to add Urruti to his lineup before the end of the season.
TFC general manager Kevin Payne touted the striker as an elite player capable of lifting his faltering club — which has just 21 goals in 23 games this season and sits second last in the MLS’s Eastern Conference — out of its offensive funk.
“We’ve chased him a long time,” Payne recently told MLS.com. “We watched him many, many times. Our opinion of him has never wavered.
“We really think that Urruti will be one of the absolute top forwards in the league and we think that he will bang in all kinds of goals.”
But others aren’t so sure. Sam Kelly, a freelance soccer writer and ESPN contributor based in Argentina, says the youngster has yet to fully prove himself.
“A lot of the games he’s played have been substitute appearances, and he’s never really had a run,” Kelly said. “His stats in terms of goals per game aren’t fantastic for a forward.”
In his last 47 games with the Old Boys, the young striker has just 11 goals, but TFC hopes his production will ramp up once he leaves a situation he’s clearly not happy with.
The move to Toronto will also allow Urruti to leave behind an accusation — since dismissed by the South American Football Confederation — that he uttered a racial slur to an opponent earlier this year.
Urruti seemed to fit in well Wednesday, taking direction from Nelsen on the pitch and sticking around to sign autographs. Neither Urruti nor his teammates were available for comment, pending the finalization of his contract with TFC.
“We obviously haven’t seen the best of him yet,” said Nelsen. “He’s a very direct striker and he has a lot of room to grow.”
Nelsen said he expects Urruti to easily adjust to playing in MLS because his countryman, 21-year-old Matias Laba, who signed with TFC in April, will be there to help.
“They both have the same humour, which is dodgy,” said Nelsen. “I don’t expect him to set the world on fire; he’s just got to find his own feet.”