Damien Perquis terminates Real Betis contract

Toronto FC have been working towards the acquisition of Damien Perquis for some time now with the player seemingly interested in making the move to MLS.  The big issue that has been stopping the club from getting the deal done was the fact that Real Betis were looking for a transfer fee for the player while TFC were looking to acquire him on a free transfer.

That hurdle appears to be out of the way now though with L'equipe reporting that the defender has terminated his contract with Real Betis making him free to move to a new club.  The move comes after Perquis, a Polish international, found himself dropped from the lineup after signing a new deal in the summer.

Toronto FC are not the only team reportedly interested in acquiring the 31-year-old defender as L'equipe suggests that he has options in France as well as other parts of Europe.  TFC do seem to be the front runner to land his signature though and a deal could be in place within the coming week.

While an addition like Perquis will not come with the splash of signings like Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco it could be just as important to the success of the club in 2015.  CB has been one position where the club has constantly struggled to find the right players.  They have brought in a number of experienced defenders from all over the world and time after time they have all failed to provide long term stability on the back line.

Perquis would likely serve as a partner for Steven Caldwell on the back line which would certainly give the middle of the defence plenty of experience.  The tradeoff for that experience would be the fact that both players have had struggled with injuries in recent seasons and would not be close to the most athletic CBs in MLS.  The team would still have lots of pace on the outside of the back four to help make up for it but it would be a gamble that Perquis and Caldwell's experience is enough to make up for that lack of athleticism.

Adding an experienced defender like Perquis is clearly near the top of the priority list for TFC as the departure of Doneil Henry has left that club glaringly thin in a position where they already struggled last season.  Such a signing would push the likes of Nick Hagglund, Skylar Thomas, and Clement Simonin down the depth chart to give them time to develop in a back-up role.

While it is unclear if Perquis is going to be the solution at the back it should be clear soon if he is going to be joining the club.  With his Betis contract terminated the way is now clear for him to really enter in to serious negotiations with clubs meaning it should not be long before he makes his decision on where he will be playing.  If he does elect to sign for TFC it will be good to have a deal in place so that the player can join his new club in time for the early stages of training camp.