TORONTO – After seeing several high-profile stars leave the club in recent weeks, Toronto FC has started adding players to its roster ahead of the 2019 MLS season.
TFC announced on Tuesday that it has signed American forward Terrence Boyd from SV Darmstadt 98, a club that plays in Germany’s second division.
In adding Boyd, TFC has bolstered its options at the forward position in the aftermath of the sale of Sebastian Giovinco to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.
However, it should be noted that Boyd is not a replacement for Giovinco. TFC was working on this deal independent of its recent attempts to re-sign Giovinco to a new deal, and Boyd is seen as a depth player for coach Greg Vanney. You can think of Boyd as more of a replacement for Tosaint Ricketts, the Canadian forward who parted ways with TFC during the off-season.
“Off the field, I’m kind of like a clown; I don’t take life that seriously. But on the pitch, I think of myself as a monster. I’m one of those guys who presses the defenders to try to force them to make mistakes, and just puts my body into everything. I just go out and kill people in the name of the team. [laughs] You will see,” Boyd told Sportsnet.
can’t wait to get started https://t.co/LY5fmJA3g6
— Terrence Boyd (@TBoyd91) February 5, 2019
Boyd, 27, is an American international with 14 caps to his credit. The German-born Boyd has spent his entire career playing in Germany and Austria, turning out for such clubs as RB Leipzig and Rapid Wien. He also spent time with the reserve teams of Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund.
Boyd left RB Leipzig in January 2017 for SV Darmstadt 98, where he has scored five goals and tallied two assists in 44 games in all competitions, his opportunities for playing time somewhat hampered by injury problems.
His best stint was with Rapid Wien, scoring 37 goals and tallying 11 assists from 2012 to 2014.
The addition of Boyd to the TFC roster comes in the aftermath of a series of recent high-profile departures, including the sales of Giovinco (to Al-Hilal) and playmaker Victor Vazquez (to Al-Arabi in Qatar). The Reds also traded central defender Nick Hagglund to expansion club FC Cincinnati, and are looking to offload Gregory van der Wiel after sending the Dutch defender back home to Toronto from pre-season training camp in California.
Boyd’s arrival in Toronto couldn’t have come at a better time with its Round of 16 series in the Concacaf Champions League later this month and the start of the MLS campaign set for early March.
Boyd gives TFC some much-needed depth at the forward position, as Giovinco’s departure left Jozy Altidore as the only remaining forward on the roster who is a proven goal-scorer. The quality up front takes a drastic drop after that: Canadian Jordan Hamilton, U.S. U-20 international Ayo Akinola, Jon Bakero and Tsubasa Endoh.
John Molinaro interviewed Terrence Boyd on Tuesday evening over the phone from TFC’s training camp in California. Look for Molinaro’s follow-up story on Boyd to appear on Sportsnet.ca on Wednesday.
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