Sebastian Giovinco, the 2015 Landon Donovan MLS MVP, is in preseason camp with Toronto FC in California as an invited guest.
The 35-year-old is a free agent after last competing for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal FC, the club he joined in January 2019 via a transfer from Toronto.
The Italian forward had 68 goals and 52 assists across 114 regular-season games with Toronto upon joining from Serie A powerhouse Juventus. He’s a club legend who helped bring numerous trophies to Toronto, highlighted by an MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship treble in 2017.
While it’s unclear if Toronto are looking to sign Giovinco, any MLS return for the 2015 Golden Boot presented by Audi winner would need to go through the MLS Allocation Order and Process since his outgoing transfer fee was $500,000 or more.
Toronto currently hold the No. 3 spot behind Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati, respectively. The Allocation Process is the mechanism used to determine which club has first priority to acquire a player on the Allocation Ranking List.
Giovinco was a Designated Player during his time in Toronto, linking up with US men’s national team veterans Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore under now-LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney. Bradley and Altidore remain with the team.
Roster-wise, Toronto are in revamp mode under new head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley. He’s laying the groundwork ahead of their 2022 MLS season, which begins Feb. 26 at FC Dallas.
Toronto’s biggest move so far is landing Italy star Lorenzo Insigne, who will join this July as a Designated Player once his contract at Serie A side Napoli expires. Toronto are also reportedly moving out winger Yeferson Soteldo and could exercise their offseason buyout of a guaranteed contract on Altidore.
Should Altidore and/or Soteldo depart, it’d open the requisite DP spot to sign Insigne. They’ve been linked with Mexican international defender Carlos Salcedo, possibly as a DP from Liga MX’s Tigres UANL.
Ahead of the 2020 season, Giovinco was named to MLS' The 25 Greatest presented by AT&T, a list honoring the 25 brightest stars in league history.
