Toronto Star ePaper

Pozuelo reportedly Miami-bound

NEIL DAVIDSON

Spanish playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo, the MLS MVP tw0 year ago, is on the move as Toronto FC continues its teardown and rebuild.

A source, granted anonymity because the deal had not been announced, confirmed that the 30year-old is headed to Inter Miami CF. The source said Toronto will receive assets in exchange — reportedly a modest amount of allocation money — but not a player.

Pozuelo’s contract is up this summer. He is the fourth-highest paid player in MLS, at $4.69 million (U.S.) this year, according to numbers released in April by the MLS Players Association.

Pozuelo’s departure opens up a designated player spot for Toronto, with speculation that the MLS club has Italian international Federico Bernardeschi, a winger/attacking midfielder, in its sights.

The 28-year-old Bernardeschi spent the last five seasons with Juventus, winning three Serie A titles, two Italian Cups and two Italian Super Cups.

Toronto (5-10-3) hosts the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Toronto’s other two DPs are Mexican defender Carlos Salcedo and Insigne. Salcedo has been sidelined by a family matter of late, with suggestions he may want to return to Mexico as a result.

While Pozuelo has been Toronto’s most creative player, he struggled at times to find his role under new coach Bob Bradley, who wanted the Spaniard to attend to his defensive duties as well as the attack.

Toronto acquired Pozuelo in March 2019 from Belgium’s KRC Genk as a designated player. In four seasons with TFC, he has 26 goals and 31 assists in league play.

Pozuelo won MLS MVP honours in 2020, helping Toronto to the second-best overall record in the league during the pandemic-shortened season. Pozuelo tied for the MLS lead in assists with 10, and tied for eighth in goals with nine in 23 games. He led the league in combined goals and assists (19).

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2022-07-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

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