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The Lucas Janson era in Toronto appears to be over.
According to multiple sources out of Argentina, Janson has returned to Tigre, after Toronto FC declined to exercise the buyout option on his contract. According to the tweet below, the clause was worth $3.7 million. His loan deal with Toronto FC expired on December 31.
Lucas Janson vuelve a #Tigre. Culminó su préstamo con Toronto y el club no ejecutará la cláusula de 3.7 millones de dólares. Primer refuerzo para Echeverria.
— Facu Sanches (@Facusanches) January 1, 2019
Más info con @LucasCalonico y @lujanmarco15 pic.twitter.com/55ONA825G4
The tweet (very) roughly translates to: “Lucas Janson returns to #Tigre. He finished his loan with Toronto and the club will not execute the $ 3.7 million clause. First reinforcement for Echeverria.”
It already seems as though Janson has found himself another club, as there are an increasing number of tweets linking him to Godoy Cruz, another club in the Argentinian first division:
#MercadoDePases | Leonel Rivas (#RosarioCentral) y Lucas Janson (#Tigre) son pretendidos por #GodoyCruz. pic.twitter.com/oXgP6LECJV
— Proyecto Futbol (@PF2019Ok) January 2, 2019
Janson played 12 games for Toronto FC, 11 in MLS and one in the Campeones Cup. He scored five goals, four in MLS action, including one on his debut against San Jose, and scored the only TFC goal in the Campeones Cup.
Overall, he was a decent player and seemed to enjoy living and playing in Toronto, but when it comes down to it, $3.7 million is a large sum of money that can likely be better spent elsewhere.
Toronto FC are surely still hunting for forwards, as the only striker options behind Giovinco and Altidore are now Jon Bakero and Ayo Akinola. There has still been little reported on whether or not Jordan Hamilton will be returning.