Toronto FC sign Liam Fraser to homegrown contract

Toronto FC continues to build from within after signing Liam Fraser to a homegrown contract. The 19-year-old Canadian becomes the 16th academy product to sign, and second this offseason after Ayo Akinola put pen to paper in December.

Fraser has spent the last three seasons with Toronto FC II, playing 52 games and scoring twice. He has also represented Canada internationally at various youth levels, captaining Canada at the U-20 level. He was recently at U-23 training camp, scoring in a 2-1 friendly loss to Atletico Nacional.

The midfielder has long been considered a future first teamer, and was part of first team training camp last season. He is a hardworking player who models himself after club captain Michael Bradley.

If all goes to plan, he might end up being his eventual replacement. Certainly this season Fraser gives Toronto some cover at the holding midfield position, where they don’t have much beyond Bradley. This might allow Toronto FC to focus on signing a more advanced midfielder rather than worrying what happens if Bradley misses a game.

Toronto FC’s skipper played almost every game last season, and isn’t likely to miss much time this year either. But with three competitions in 2018, and especially in the Canadian Championship, Fraser will get a chance to prove himself. If nothing else, getting a chance to be Bradley’s understudy will be great for his development.

Fraser spent part of the offseason training with HB Køge of the Danish second division along with fellow TFC 2 members Aiden Daniels, Luca Ucello and Malik Johnson. The Danish club were apparently quite impressed with his abilities.

He is the sixth homegrown signing currently on Toronto FC’s roster joining Ashtone Morgan, Jordan Hamilton, Jay Chapman, Marky Delgado (signed by Chivas USA) and Akinola.