Toronto FC has loaned defender Luke Singh to FC Edmonton of the Canadian Premier League through December.
Also Tuesday, the MLS club announced that Gianni Cimini has been named head coach of its reserve side, Toronto FC II, ahead of the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season.
Singh becomes the 18th player from Toronto’s 2021 first-team roster to play elsewhere this season, with Jamaican international defender Kemar Lawrence set to become No. 19 pending a move.
Singh made eight appearances and scored one goal for Toronto in all competitions last year. The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont., was thrown in the deep end last April, signing two short-term deals with injury-plagued TFC to play in Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League round-of-16 matches last April against Mexico’s Club Leon.
He made his pro debut with Toronto when he came off the bench in the 87th minute in the first game against Leon on April 7 and then made his first start for in the April 14 rematch.
Two days later, he signed as a homegrown player through 2025, becoming the 26th player in club history to join the first team from the TFC academy.
“We are excited to embrace Luke with our team this season,” FC Edmonton coach Alan Koch said in a statement. “He is a talented young player with some excellent professional football experiences already. I am excited to work with him, push him to help develop his game further, and hopefully have him aid in team success.”
FC Edmonton, which is currently being operated by the CPL while the search for new ownership continues, opens the CPL’s season April 10 against visiting Valour FC.
Singh spent two seasons with the Toronto academy, arriving in January 2017. In March 2019, he joined Toronto FC II before being loaned to Denmark’s Brondby IF for the remainder of the 2019 season.
A Trinidad and Tobago youth international, he was called up by the Canadian senior national team in June 2021, participating in a camp without seeing game action.
Cimini, 38, has spent the past 10 years working with the Toronto academy as head coach for the U-12, U-16 and U-17 age groups He also served as the academy technical manager from 2015 to 2017.
“He has been a top coach in the TFC academy for 10 years and will play an important role in moving our top young players forward to the first team,” Toronto FC coach and sporting director Bob Bradley, who turned 64 Thursday, said in a statement.
Prior to joining the TFC academy, Cimini worked as technical director at Woodbridge Soccer Club from 2006 to 2012 and was a regional assistant coach at the Ontario Soccer Association in 2011. As a player, Cimini represented Canada at the under-17 and under-18 level.
Marco Casalinuovo joins Toronto FC II as an assistant coach after spending seven years coaching at the Toronto academy. Casalinuovo, 36, is also a former Canadian youth international.
Toronto FC II, one of 21 clubs participating in MLS NEXT Pro league, opens its season April 3 against FC Cincinnati 2.