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It's been a long time coming, almost a month since his name was first dropped as the player TFC were looking at, but today the rumours about the arrival of striker Maximiliano Urruti from Argentina's Newell's Old Boys hotted up radically, as the Canadian Press's Neil Davidson reported that not only will Urruti be coming, but he will also be accompanied by a new midfielder. Sadly, the world's longest running transfer saga promises to last a while longer yet as it won't be until the end of the month that he arrives.
The story broke from Davidson's Twitter account at around 2pm ET this afternoon:
#TorontoFC lands Argentine striker Maximiliano Urrutti and an Argentine midfielder. Both expected by end of month,
— Neil Davidson (@NeilMDavidson) April 3, 2013
Metro News Toronto would have the full Canadian press article shortly after. Davidson goes on to state that the midfielder's name continues to remain a mystery, but that at least one of them will fall under MLS's new "Young DP" program, of which $200,000 of his salary will be covered by the league -- less if signed mid-season.
This strongly hints that the other player could be under 23, the cut-off age to qualify for this program. Whoever qualifies for it, will be the 2nd under-23 DP to sign this year, after Brazilian Rafael signed for D.C. United earlier this season.
This also opens up a new question, as the club currently holds nine international slots, of which seven are being used and an eighth will be taken up when Danny Koevermans returns (according to Metro, Englishman Darel Russell holds a green card, which exempts the club from needing an international slot for him), so will there be a concerted effort to get more slots? Or will it be a case of saying goodbye to at least one of the existing international players (get those lambe chop puns ready folks).
We will have more as this story unfolds and the questions are answered, but until then, enjoy this compliation of Urruti's work in Argentina: