Ryan Richter trains with Ottawa Fury ahead of potential loan move

Toronto FC could be set to send another player out on loan and this time around it is not to the Wilmington Hammerheads.  The club have instead sent Ryan Richter a few hours down the road to the Ottawa Fury of the NASL who he joined for training on Wednesday. Having played a total of 0 minutes in the league this season it is no surprise that Richter was a candidate to head out on loan in search of some playing time.

Here is Ryan Richter at Fury training yesterday. pic.twitter.com/AKddMRQgwE

— Chris Hofley (@chrishofley) June 5, 2014

Richter has been working to transition from playing right back to playing centre back but has found minutes hard to come by this season.  At CB he has been stuck well down the depth chart behind Steven Caldwell, Doneil Henry, Nick Hagglund, and Bradley Orr.  He has even been bumped down the chart at right back where Hagglund has been the preferred backup to Mark Bloom.

With no minutes seemingly coming his way in the near future with Toronto the loan move would make sense for Richter.  He would also get the added benefit of having plenty of time to train with the team during their midseason break.  The Fury have a game this weekend against the New York Cosmos to wrap up the spring season but after that they are off until July 13th when they kick off the fall season on the road against FC Edmonton.

If Richter does join the Fury on loan he would be counted on to help shore up a defence that has given up 12 goals through their first 8 games.  The Fury, who currently sit 6th in the NASL standings, have relied on Omar Jarun to anchor their back line with Drew Beckie along side him.  Ricther may not come in and bump one of that pair out of the starting lineup but he should be good enough to at least compete with them for minutes which is more than is currently the case for him in Toronto.

Such a loan to Ottawa would be interesting since it would be the first real time that the two clubs have worked together.  If it opens the door for more moves down the road that is something that could be in the best interest of both organizations.

It is also interesting that Richter is heading to the Fury and not down to Wilmington where three other TFC players are already out on loan.  The fact that young players like Quillan Roberts, Manuel Aparicio, Jordan Hamilton, and Dan Lovitz have been sent to Wilmington and could be joined by some players from the academy over the course of the summer while Richter is going to Ottawa illustrates just how TFC view that affiliation and what they see as its primary function, competitive minutes for young players.

Ricther's move to Ottawa has yet to be confirmed by either club but we will update as more details become available.