Buzz about Italian star Insigne might lead to record deal here
Toronto club has reportedly offered him the largest salary in MLS history
Toronto FC president Bill Manning promised significant changes after the curtain closed on a dismal sixwin season.
Signing Italian star Lorenzo Insigne — reportedly a TFC target for almost two months, with talks intensifying of late — would qualify as one of the most significant moves in Major League Soccer history.
The Reds are reportedly willing to pay the 30-year-old playmaker a league-record salary. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted Tuesday that the Reds have offered Insigne a 5 ⁄ -year deal that would guarantee him about $16 million Canadian per season, with the potential for more than $6.5 million in bonuses.
The highest paid player in MLS this past season was Los Angeles FC forward Carlos Vela at about $8 million Canadian.
If the deal comes to fruition, Toronto FC will be acquiring one of the most talented attackers in Italy’s Serie A. The Napoli captain signed with his hometown team as a 15-year-old in 2006 and has played the bulk of his professional career there, with a few loans mixed in.
He also starred this past summer at Euro 2020, where Italy became continental champion, and has claims to a word recently added to the Italian dictionary: Tiraggiro, to describe the kind of curling shot that Insigne has become known for — after cutting into the middle of the field from the left wing and letting the ball fly with his right foot.
There will naturally be comparisons to fellow Italian and former TFC striker Sebastian Giovinco. Like Giovinco, the 2015 MLS MVP, Insigne is small — five-foot-four — but can appear larger than life on the field with his quick feet and quicker mind. When speculation about a link between TFC and Insigne first emerged late in the MLS season, headlines also made the Giovinco connection.
Should he land with the Reds, however, Insigne would arrive as a known quantity after more than a decade as a consistent starter with Napoli and a national team regular. Giovinco, on the other hand, made his name largely in Toronto after struggling for playing time at Juventus and internationally.
A deal with Insigne — who has also reportedly fielded offers from Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan — would be more comparable to the one that brought in Jermain Defoe in 2014.
Defoe was a central figure in a TFC big-money makeover dubbed the Bloody Big Deal, but flopped despite a history of success, for both club and country in England, prior to landing in Toronto.
Like Defoe and Giovinco before him, Insigne would be a designated player should he make the move to MLS. TFC, however, still officially has the maximum three in Jozy Altidore, Yeferson Soteldo and Alejandro Pozuelo. The future remains up in the air for both Altidore and Soteldo. The Reds would need to make room before any Insigne deal could be made official.
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has been quoted as saying Insigne’s future there “doesn’t depend on us.” The player and his hometown club, where he is out of contract at season’s end, are reportedly at an impasse over money.
“I’ve never forced anyone,” De Laurentiis said. “I let others democratically decide what is the best choice for their lives. If Insigne wants to stay, we are here to welcome him with open arms. Instead, if he thinks his journey in Naples is over, we’ll deal with it and accept his decision.”
If Insigne’s time with Napoli is over, a move to the Reds would be the significant signing Manning promised, and a coup for the MLS club.