Sebastian Giovinco To Toronto FC Now Official

In a not so well-kept secret, the signing of Sebastian Giovinco for Toronto FC is now official. Toronto FC held a press conference today to announce this deal, just days after they held one to announce the signing of Jozy Altidore. There had been speculation for a couple of weeks that Toronto was interested in Giovinco, with the rumors heating up in the past couple of days.

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Sebastian Giovinco currently plays for Italian powerhouse, Juventus, in Serie A. Giovinco will play out the rest of his contract with Juventus and join Major League Soccer in July. Giovinco’s playing time has been reduced at Juventus, leading him to want an exit in the summer. There were multiple suitors across the club for the Italian international, but Toronto FC won the race, most likely because of the contract that was offered.

Sebastian Giovinco has reportedly been offered a contract north of $7 million a year not including marketing bonuses. With those bonuses, it looks like he may make just under $8 million a year which will make him the highest paid player in the history of Major League Soccer. “I am excited to sign with Toronto FC today and look forward to joining the club this summer,” said Giovinco.

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Some people around the league are crowning this signing as the best in MLS’s history. Major League Soccer is getting an in prime player, playing for one of Europe’s biggest clubs now. MLS has received a lot of heat over the years for signing stars in the back-end of their careers. That is where the term “retirement league” comes from, but Giovinco is far from coming here to retire.

Giovinco is in his prime yet and could be MLS’s best ever signings. “Sebastian Giovinco is a complete player with the ability to not only create but also to score goals as he’s proven throughout his career in Italy,” said Toronto Head Coach Greg Vanney. Obviously he still needs to prove it on the field before he can be considered MLS’s best ever signing, but he definitely has that potential. He will be joining a Toronto FC team that is going through yet another DP make over. Last offseason Toronto made the trio of DP signings; Defoe, Bradley and Gilberto. Now Defoe is gone and Giovinco and Altidore are in.

This signing does open up some questions though. Most notably, what does this signing mean for Gilberto. Obviously with the uncertainty of the CBA negotiations yet, GIlberto may still be allowed to be on Toronto come opening day. As of now though, teams are only allowed 3 DPs so it looks like Gilberto would be the odd man out up north. Toronto would have until their opening game to make that move though.

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Sebastian Giovinco is nothing but good for Major League Soccer. I guess the question for Toronto though, can he help lead them to a late season push into their first playoff appearance? I guess we will find that out later this year.

What do you think of Sebastian Giovinco signing with Major League Soccer and specifically Toronto FC? Let us know below!

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