TORONTO FC ARE YET AGAIN PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MLS

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

From the moment rumors began to swirl linking Lorenzo Insigne to MLS, there has been one question on everyone's mind: what does this all mean? That's the way things work in MLS, where every big signing has to mean something. It is a league that, in many ways, is still defining itself and constantly evaluating and reevaluating its place in global soccer.

Source: Reuters

Now, the rumors are no longer rumors. Insigne's move to Toronto was confirmed on Saturday, and he will officially join the club this summer upon the expiration of his contract with Napoli, leaving his boyhood club to head to Canada at the age of 30. Insigne is coming to MLS in one of the most expensive and ambitious moves in the league's history.

But even as the Napoli superstar's move to Toronto FC is finalized, that big initial question still lingers. The move itself is unheard of in MLS history. This is an international player very much at the peak of his powers and playing at the highest level in Europe.

The list of football giants who have graced pitches in MLS is long. Even in those earliest days, there were big names – Carlos Valderrama, Jorge Campos, Preki, Mo Johnston – and since Beckham’s arrival a steady stream of world-class players at the tail end of their careers have transited the league: Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Didier Drogba, David Villa, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sebastian Giovinco, etc. But few could be said to have been in the fullness of their prime.

Insigne is a player that could realistically play for almost any club in Europe and still give plenty of good years to a team pushing to win the Champions League. He is a legitimate Italy international that started at Euro 2020 this past summer. He ranked seventh in Serie A with 19 goals last season, an extremely impressive haul considering the fact that he plays out wide. This is a level of player MLS has never seen and, somehow, someway, Toronto FC pulled it off.

The elephant in the room is the money involved, which is absolutely staggering. Insigne's salary will be roughly $13 million per year, making him far and away from the best-paid player in MLS history. That salary is astronomical even by world soccer standards and is more than several MLS teams pay for their entire squads.

Insigne is not a Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo-like figure. He is not even a Rooney or a Villa, a household name that will capture the imagination and eyes of the casual fan. For all of his success, Insigne is still far from a big star when it comes to naming recognition outside of Italy. Instead, it comes down to what has driven Toronto FC's club forward throughout the last decade. This movie is about one thing: ambition.

TFC is the club that brought Giovinco to MLS in his prime, giving the league one of the most electrifying stars in its short history. This is the club that signed Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, two U.S. men's national team stars, to big-money deals. This is also the club that gave us the "Bloody Big Deal" signing of Jermain Defoe, a transfer that did not work out at the time but did show the boundaries that could be pushed by a team that had the imagination and the desire to do so. That is what Insigne's arrival means to Toronto, a club that has been defined by its desire to push the boundaries. This is the club's chance to prove that it can draw top talent, reassert itself among North America's premier clubs, and, ultimately, as a player in the global soccer market.

So what does this all mean? Insigne's move could prove to be an aberration, a simple case of a player being wooed by big money and big promises to try something different. This could prove an isolated case, just a man making a decision that was best for him and his family, rather than beginning a tidal wave of European talents heading across the Atlantic in the coming years. But you do not find that out without being bold. You do not change perceptions without a little bit of ambition. To truly change things, sometimes you have to take a risk and see what happens.

Both Toronto FC and Insigne are taking a chance with this movie. As for what that will mean five, 10, or 15 years down the line: well, that's anyone's guess.

For reference - here’s a chart of Insigne’s production in Serie A since 2014:

Serie A

Year Matches Goals Assists Yellow Red

• 2021-22 17 4 5 0 0

• 2020-21 35 19 7 2 1

• 2019-20 37 8 6 1 0

• 2018-19 28 10 6 6 1

• 2017-18 37 8 11 4 0

• 2016-17 37 18 9 2 0

• 2015-16 37 12 10 2 0

• 2014-15 20 2 3 0 0