Laying the ground work

Reds working behind the scenes to ease transition for Insigne

Lorenzo Insigne has already said goodbye to his legion of Napoli fans in his home finale. And Sunday, Napoli wraps up its Serie A season at Spezia with a third-place finish guaranteed.

Meanwhile, Toronto FC waits and watches. But the club has been busy preparing for the debut of its designated player, the highest paid in Major League Soccer history.

TFC president Bill Manning says the Italian star forward, married with two sons, is expected in late June after international duty with Italy and a short break.

The club hired Paola de Cristofaro as manager of player care in March to help ease the Insigne family’s transition to North America. De Cristofaro, an Italian-Canadian who spent 10 years in Rome and speaks fluent Italian, has been in touch with the family regularly.

“Their schools are already picked out. His residence is already picked out,” said Manning. “There’s been a lot of work done there. Getting English lessons, that’s already being worked on right now ... There’s been a lot of communication.”

Toronto has a lot invested in Insigne — who turns 31 on June 4 — on a long-term deal that will overtake Chicago’s Xherdan Shaqiri ($8.153 million U.S.) atop the MLS salary list.

Insigne’s first game is expected to be July 9, two days after the MLS secondary transfer window opens, at home against the San Jose Earthquakes. TFC will have played 18 of 34 regular-season games by then.

Manning says Insigne has been preparing by watching all of Toronto’s games.

“He wants to really get a feel for how the team’s playing. I know Bob (Bradley, head coach and sporting director) and Mike (Sorber, assistant coach and technical director) and the technical staff are watching all the Napoli games ... Bob has coached big players before. (Insigne) is going to be a foundational piece for our team moving forward.”

Manning says the Italian will play a key role on and off the field.

“He’s a leader. He’s got some personality to him. And on a team like ours, last game we had six players 21 and younger that were out there in the starting lineup,” Manning said, referring to the 1-0 home loss to Orlando City. “So this is a team that can look up to guys like Lorenzo Insigne.

“Obviously they have Michael (Bradley, captain) and Jonathan Osorio. This is a guy that’s going to be able to come in and help raise the bar. For a team like ours that is going through a major transformation, that is such a big step in the right direction.”

De Cristofaro reports to Tania Pedron, TFC’s director of administration and operations, who also speaks fluent Italian. They will likely have other newcomers to help soon.

“We’ve carried less roster spots because we were going to add three players (including Insigne) during the summer. That’s always been our plan,” said Manning. “Just the way the roster (salary) cap is coming together, we actually may be able to add a fourth.”

Little things can become big for players who arrive from other countries. Like a driver’s licence. Canada doesn’t have reciprocal programs with some countries, meaning you may have to retest no matter how long you’ve been behind the wheel. TFC also works with embassies to try to cut red tape, and the club has go-to realtors to help players find a home.

Insigne was feted by a crowd of 50,871 before Napoli’s final home game of the season, a 3-0 win over Genoa last Sunday, in which he scored from the penalty spot. Teammates lined up in a guard of honour as Insigne walked onto the pitch with his sons at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and was presented with commemorative gifts.