Toronto FC has left designated player Lorenzo Insigne unprotected in the MLS expansion draft, knowing the Italian star's big-ticket salary will likely deter expansion San Diego FC.
MLS teams are allowed to protect 12 players from their senior and supplemental rosters for Wednesday's draft. San Diego can select up to five players from the eligible pool of players, but can only take one from any one club.
Insigne is the biggest name on the list -- and the biggest paycheque.
The 33-year-old former Napoli captain, whose salary of US$15.4 million was second only to Inter Miami's Lionel Messi (US$20.5 million) this season, had four goals and seven assists in 23 league appearances in an injury-interrupted season.
Toronto has gone this route before, making Julian de Guzman, the first designated player in club history, available in both the 2010 (Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers) and 2011(Montreal) expansion drafts. De Guzman went unchosen -- no doubt due to his salary of $1.72 million and $1.91 million, respectively.
Toronto had to protect fellow Italian designated player Federico Bernardeschi, whose salary of US$6.295 million ranked fifth in the league, because he has a no-trade clause in his contract. MLS rules state that players with such clauses must be protected during expansion drafts.
Toronto's available list includes Aime Mabika, Shane O'Neill, Prince Owusu and Greg Ranjitsingh, whose options for 2025 were not picked up. Also available is midfielder Cassius Mailula, who is on loan with Moroccan club Wydad Athletic Club through July 2025 with an option to make the transfer permanent.
Honduran international midfielder Deybi Flores and defenders Raoul Petretta and Sigurd Rosted, who all saw plenty of action this season, were also made available.
Flores may be less attractive to another club because his 2025 salary budget charge comes with some payments resulting from his original transfer. So TFC elected to make him available while holding on to other players who come at a bargain rate.
Petretta (US$$754,750 this season) and Rosted (US$755,000) come with big salaries.
CF Montreal did not protect designated player Victor Wanyama, a 33-year-old midfielder whose contract expires at the end of the year. Wanyama saw action in just 12 league games this season (four starts) and last played May 12 in a Canadian Championship outing.
Other Montreal players made available include Gabriele Corbo, Grayson Doody, Raheem Edwards, Ilias Iliadis, Lassi Lappalainen, Josef Martínez, Matteo Schiavoni and Robert Thorkelsson, all of whose 2025 contract options had previously been declined.
Logan Ketterer is out of contract at the end of the year.
Available Whitecaps include Damir Kreilach, Fafa Picault, Ryan Raposo and Alessandro Schöpf. The team had previously announced it did not plan to exercise the 2025 options for Schöpf and Picault with Raposo's contract expiring at the end of the year.
Kreilach, 35, made US$400,000 this season.
San Diego's roster currently numbers seven players.
In June, the club announced Hirving (Chucky) Lozano as its first designated player, signing the Mexican international winger to a four-year contract with two option years in a Jan. 1, 2025, transfer from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
Others on the San Diego roster are U.S. youth international goalkeeper Duran Ferree, Northern Ireland international defender Paddy McNair, American winger Alex Mighten, Danish holding midfielder Jeppe Tverskov, Colombian forward Tomas Angel and Danish international forward Marcus Ingvartsen.
Angel is the son of former Colombia star Juan Pablo Angel, who played in MLS for the New York Red Bulls, Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA as well as Aston Villa in England, Atletico Nacional in Colombia and River Plate in Argentina.
San Diego's coach is Mikey Varas, a former U.S. under-20 coach and senior assistant coach. Tyler Heaps doubles as sporting director and general manager.
The 33-year-old Heaps, whose fiancée is U.S. captain Lindsey Horan, is Major League Soccer's youngest sporting director.
The club ownership includes San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado.
San Diego will kick off its inaugural season at the MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy Feb. 22-23 with its home opener March 1 at Snapdragon Stadium against St. Louis City FC.
Clubs that lose a player in Wednesday's expansion draft will receive US$50,000 in general allocation money.
Generation Adidas players who occupy roster slots 21-24 and homegrown players 25 years old and under are automatically protected.
Trades can alter the outcome of the draft. For example, Canadian defender Kamal Miller was taken by expansion Austin FC in 2020 and then traded to Montreal for up to US$275,00 in general allocation money and a first-round pick (11th overall) in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
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Available Players on Canadian Teams in Expansion Draft
CF Montreal: Matias Coccaro, Gabriele Corbo, Grayson Doody, Raheem Edwards, Ilias Iliadis, Logan Ketterer, Lassi Lappalainen, Josef Martinez, Matteo Schiavoni, Joaquín Sosa, Robert Thorkelsson, Victor Wanyama, Rida Zouhir.
Toronto FC: Nathaniel Edwards, Deybi Flores, Lorenzo Insigne, Aime Mabika, Cassius Mailula, Shane O'Neill, Prince Owusu, Jordan Perruzza, Raoul Petretta, Greg Ranjitsingh, Sigurd Rosted, Charlie Sharp.
Vancouver Whitecaps: Joe Bendik, Giuseppe Bovalina, Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, Belal Halbouni, Levonte Johnson, Damir Kreilach, Luís Martins, J.C. Ngando, Fafa Picault, Ryan Raposo, Alessandro Schöpf, Yohei Takaoka, Bjørn Utvik.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
