Started from the bottom, now we here.
As much as I hate to use a Drake lyric to lead my blog, there is no better way to describe Toronto FC at the moment.
It’s ironic that the week after fans were reminded that the great Eusébio once played in Toronto and led the NASL club to their only Soccer Bowl win in 1976, TFC make two of the biggest signings in Major League Soccer history.
Leafs and Raptors fans should be very happy with the stamp Tim Leiweke has chosen to put on the soccer team as his first order of business. Overnight TFC went from being the league’s biggest laughingstock, to the biggest player in the transfer market.
Jermain Defoe is a prolific goal scorer. There is nothing TFC has ever needed more. At 31, he still has plenty of the pace that has made him so lethal throughout his career. He will not score 30 goals a season in MLS, but he will certainly be a joy to watch and perhaps, more importantly, improve the guys around him.
Defoe is the league’s most important signing after Thierry Henry and Clint Dempsey in the Beckham era.
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Why do I rank Dempsey ahead of Defoe? If you’re a long-time follower of mine on Twitter, you know Dempsey is one of my favourite players around. But there is no need for bias here. Dempsey’s move to Seattle last summer was a massive statement: If you’re America’s best, you can play in North America.
And already Canada is the beneficiary of that. Welcome, Michael Bradley.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out why Dempsey, a 26-year-old player in his prime and playing at the best team he’s ever played for in AS Roma, would leave to make five times his salary PER YEAR! What was unthinkable just a few years ago was that ANY American could make that kind of money by coming home.
Remember when after stellar MLS seasons Edson Buddle left the LA Galaxy for Bundesliga 2 and Robbie Findley swapped Salt Lake for Gillingham when he couldn’t cut it at Nottingham Forest? That won’t happen anymore.
There will still be North American players that pursue better opportunities in Europe. But with Omar Gonzalez, Dempsey and Bradley on DP contracts, MLS is now more than just a viable option for U.S. national team standouts. Maurice Edu is expected to cross the Atlantic this winter, and when it doesn’t work out at Sunderland, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jozy Altidore come home.
Pessimistic Toronto sports fans will worry that TFC will pull a 2013 Toronto Blue Jays. But for now it feels really good to be excited about this franchise. And looking at the big picture, as great as these moves can be for the club, they are even more important for the league.
Now the only question that remains is, what fixture will they choose for ‘Drake Night’ at BMO Field?
Brendan Dunlop is the host of Connected on Sportsnet. Follow him on Twitter.