Music: {allcanada} Toronto FC officially signs Argentine Laba

Friday, April 26, 2013

{allcanada} Toronto FC officially signs Argentine Laba

Toronto FC finally got its man.

The Major Leaguer Soccer team officially announced Friday that is has signed Argentine midfielder Matias Laba from Buenos Aires club Argentinos Juniors.

TFC had been pursuing Laba for several weeks, and his pending arrival comes in the aftermath of the Reds formally giving up on Maximilliano Urruti, a young Argentine forward the team had been very close to signing before the deal fell through.

"Matías Laba is one of the top young talents in Argentina and we are delighted to have him join Toronto FC," president and general manager Kevin Payne said in a news release.

"He is a modern central midfielder and we expect him to be a mainstay of our team for years to come."

Financial terms of the Laba deal were not released, but one source told sportsnet.ca that TFC paid Argentinos Juniors $1.3 million in transfer fees to land the 21-year-old Laba. What is known is that he's been signed to a young designated player contract – under MLS rules, clubs can sign a player who is between 21-23 years of age and only $200,000 of his wages count against the team's salary cap.

What will be interesting to see is if Laba can help bolster a TFC midfield that has been sorely lacking in creativity and inspiration this season. Described as a box-to-box midfielder, Laba will hopefully help the Reds in the middle of the park, where they have struggled to create scoring chances and supply a steady line of quality service for leading scorer Robert Earnshaw.

"We are always looking to improve the squad and Matias Laba is an incredible player," Nelsen told reporters when asked about the midfielder earlier in the week. "If he joins the Toronto squad, I will be more than happy."

Another important question is which TFC player will lose his spot in starting line-up in order to make room for Laba?

Toronto's tracked record with big-money signings hasn't been the greatest. At best, the results have been mixed, with players such as Torsten Frings, Mista, and Julian de Guzman not quite living up to expectations. But those were all players signed under previous regimes, while Laba is the first major recruit by Payne.

Is Payne getting value for money? It's hard to say based on his resume.

Laba has played over 60 games for Argentinos Juniors, including in the Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the Champions League), since making his debut for the team in 2010. He was also a member of Argentina's youth side that competed at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

But that doesn't mean he'll necessarily make a smooth transition into MLS. Only time will tell.

Laba will be formally introduced by TFC at news conference prior to its home game on Saturday against the New York red Bulls at BMO Field.