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On the day that Toronto FC started to seriously tease an announcement for January 13th that will almost certainly be the signing of Jermain Defoe another name is thrown into the mix.
Ready for a blockbuster? I'm hearing @torontofc on the verge of signing Michael Bradley. Would be a huge coup for @MLS and @torontofc #USMNT
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) January 8, 2014
Just confirmed with a source, M. Bradley move to @torontofc that @TaylorTwellman reported is for real.
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) January 8, 2014
While the big names may wind up getting credit for breaking this one if anything ever comes to pass they were not the first ones to put it out on twitter. In fact, the idea of Bradley to TFC came across my twitter timeline almost a day earlier.
Interesting, I've had 3 diff people message me today about Michael Bradley being linked to #TFC
— Chris Wright (@WrightAnomaly) January 7, 2014
This one seems to have come straight out of left field with Bradley currently plying his trade for AS Roma and attracting interest from a number of other sizeable clubs around Europe. His minutes at Roma have taken a hit in recent weeks and the club have moved to bring in new midfielders so his time at the club might be winding down but to see him headed to MLS would be a massive surprise.
Toronto FC are one of the few MLS clubs that have the money to sign a player like Bradley as he would certainly command an even larger transfer fee and salary than what the Seattle Sounders handed to Clint Dempsey last year. In fact, his number would probably be second to only Defoe in terms of MLS earnings.
The problem with this whole thing is that Toronto FC will have three designated players once they add Defoe to the roster. Gilberto and Defoe taking up regular DP slots and Matias Laba taking up the third as the young DP. As things currently stand it seems unlikely that any of the three could be paid down below the DP level.
A lot would have to change for this rumour to turn into reality but with someone like Twellman tweeting about it the level of chatter will certainly pick up. If TFC could find a way to make this happen it would be one of the biggest signings in MLS history but it would raise questions about Laba's future at the club.
So what do you think of this one? Probably too soon to be getting any hopes up as it currently looks quite unlikely but crazier things have happened in TFC land.