Toronto FC continue to assemble an extremely impressive squad for the upcoming season, as the Canadian club unveiled Brazilian national team goalkeeper Juilo Cesar as a TFC player on Friday.
Toronto have signed 34-year-old Brazilian star Cesar on loan to help him prepare for the World Cup in his homeland this summer and TFC’s GM Tim Bezbatchenko confirmed the deal will last throughout the 2014 MLS season.
The deal means that Cesar will be playing for Toronto before and after the World Cup, as previously many thought it was just a short-term deal that would see him up in Ontario until May.
Making this move happen is just another indicator that Toronto FC really want an MLS title fast, as this signing is a major coup for the ambitious MLS outfit. Plus, Cesar is delighted to be on board.
“I am really happy to come to Canada, I would like to say thanks to Toronto FC,” Cesar said. “I am really excited to work with my new colleagues at my new club.”
Head coach Ryan Nelsen, who played with Cesar at QPR last season, shared his delight at the signing of Cesar, a two-time World Cup veteran with Brazil and Champions League winner with Italy’s Inter Milan.
“As soon as I got a sniff of bringing in Julio, it didn’t take long for it to register how important it would be to have a man like Julio around our guys, for what he does off the field as well as on the field,” Nelsen said. “His reputation on the field is second to none. He is a winner and a leader.”
(MORE – Report: Toronto FC to grab Brazilian national team ‘keeper Cesar on loan)
Bizarrely the former Inter Milan star has fallen behind Rob Green in QPR’s pecking order between the sticks in England’s second-tier, despite impressing in the R’s woeful relegation from the PL last season. But with the World Cup in his homeland just months away and Cesar only playing once all season for QPR, he needed to sort out a loan deal to play regularly and his ex-teammate Ryan Nelsen has moved swiftly to get Cesar on board for his new-look Toronto outfit.
With the MLS season less than a month away Toronto certainly look like one of the strongest squads in the Eastern conference, as USMNT star Michael Bradley and England international Jermain Defoe have already signed long-term deals in Ontario. Add that to the additions of Brazilian duo Gilberto and Jackson and Canadian star Dwayne De Rosario, and this season promises to be the most eagerly anticipated campaign in TFC’s history.
The only way is up for Toronto, it seems.
