Toronto FC to hold 3 PM press conference to announce Gilberto signing

After plenty of speculation over the past two days about just when Toronto FC would hold a press conference to announce the official signing of Gilberto from Internacional the event has finally been confirmed. The club will hold a press conference at 3 PM Friday at the Air Canada Centre to unveil their latest prized asset.

The press conference will be available via stream and on GolTV for those of us who were not invited or do not feel like driving to the ACC on a Friday afternoon in the snow (like me). So you can follow along with us in the comments section as we all get the chance to see Gilberto speak to the media for the first time and discover what cliches the club's management team will use to describe him.

For those who have not been following along in recent weeks Gilberto, or Gilberto Oliveira Souza Junior to use his full name, is a 24-year-old Brazilian forward. He is currently under contract with Internacional, the same club that has Diego Forlan, but spent the last two seasons out on loan. He most recently played for Portuguesa where he enjoyed the most successful campaign of his career. His 14 goals in Brazil's Serie A were enough for him to finish within the top five in league scoring and helped Portuguesa to a respectable league finish ahead of his parent club Internacional.

Now with the January window about to open Internacional are looking to balance their books which means having to sell some players. The biggest name that is set to be on the move is Leandro Damião who will likely draw a large fee from either private investors or one of Europe's top clubs. That sale alone is apparently not enough to balance the books so they were open to selling Gilberto since he had been on loan and surplus to needs with the likes of Damiao, Forlan, and Ignacio Scocco around. Internacional are reportedly receiving just north of $3 million for this transfer but since Toronto FC are in MLS you can expect that number will never be confirmed by anyone connected to the club.

Gilberto will be the first Designated Player level signing completed by the club this offseason but with all the cap space they have created and all the allocation money they have stocked up he will certainly not be the last. Tim Leiweke did promise TFC fans a DP as a Christmas present so feel free to imagine this press conference having a nice bow on top of it.

Follow along with us in the comments and let us know what you think about this move.