TFC Republic Weekly: 9-15
The signing of Colombian forward Emilio Aristizábal should be announced by Toronto FC very soon, a source told TFC Republic.
Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.
This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC, and also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.
So, without further ado...
Toronto FC to add Colombian attacker Emilio Aristizábal
While Toronto FC continues to talk to Norwich City over a transfer for Josh Sargent, it is closing in on another player to bolster its attack.
Toronto is very close to signing a loan deal with Atlético Nacional for Colombian forward Emilio Aristizábal, a source told TFC Republic. The loan agreement includes an option to buy for TFC. The same source said that an official announcement should come very soon and this won't affect the club's pursuit of Sargent. It's not known whether he'll be signed as a U22 Initiative player.
News of the loan deal for Aristizábal was first reported by César Luis Merlo.
Aristizábal, 20, came up through the youth system at Atlético Nacional, one of the top clubs in Colombia, before making his senior team debut in 2023. He had two assists in 15 appearances for the team before being loaned out to fellow Colmbian side Fortaleza F.C. where he has bagged 12 goals and two assists in 36 games.
He's a versatile player who can play as a winger, but he's primarily a striker, the same position his dad played during his career. Víctor Aristizábal featured for some of the biggest clubs in Colombia and Brazil and was part of his country's World Cup squad in 1994 and 1998.
Toronto could use the attacking help as it's coming off a 2025 season in which it scored 37 goals, tied for third worst in MLS.
We'll have more on this story as it develops.
John Molinaro
TFC fights back to draw AIK Fotboll
Toronto FC battled to a 2-2 stalemate against Swedish side AIK Fotboll on Sunday in pre-season action from Spain.
Substitute Markus Cimermancic scored in injury time to allow the Reds to come from behind and earn a draw after the Swedes took the lead with a pair of second-half goals.
Coach Robin Fraser made three lineup changes from last week’s pre-season match, swapping in goalkeeper William Yarbrough, defender Kobe Franklin and winger Derrick Etienne Jr for Luka Gavran, Zane Monlouis and Malik Henry.
It was a game of two different halves from Toronto. Fraser’s side looked quite comfortable and dictated the pace of the game for the opening 45 minutes but was second-best against a more aggressive AIK in the second half.
Toronto opened the scoring in the 13th minute courtesy of a probing attacking sequence down the middle launched by Djordje Mihailovic. A quick give-and-go between Etienne Jr and Mihailovic released the U.S. international forward. After skipping by his marker, Mihailovic floated a perfect cross from the edge of the penalty area towards the six-yard box where Deandre Kerr rose between two defenders and headed it home.
AIK tied things up early in the second half after Canadian international Richie Laryea was called for an off-the-ball foul on AIK’s Johan Hove inside the box early in the second half. It was a dumb foul to commit by Laryea and Hove made TFC pay for it by converting the ensuing penalty, firing his attempt past Luka Gavran.
The Swedes took the lead with 12 minutes left in regulation as Bersant Celina's cross from the left wing was deflected into TFC’s net by Jackson Gilman who was subbed on only moments earlier. Toronto appeared destined to pick up its first loss of the pre-season before Cimermancic stabbed home a shot from close range in a goal-mouth scramble off a corner kick after AK couldn’t clear its lines.
John Molinaro
Where things stand with TFC's roster
There are 24 TFC players who are under contract for the 2026 season, not including Cassius Mailula who is on loan in Belgium with K.V. Kortrijk. MLS rosters are capped at 30 players, so TFC have six open slots to use.
Teams must have at least 18 and no more than 20 players on their senior roster. By our count, there are 14 players on the senior roster and 10 on the supplemental roster at the moment. Only senior roster players count against the salary cap; supplemental players don't.
Senior players (roster slots 1-20): Luka Gavran, William Yarbrough, Richie Laryea, Zane Monlouis, Matheus Pereira, Henry Wingo, Walker Zimmerman, José Cifuentes, Alonso Coello, Djordje Mihailovic, Jonathan Osorio, Theo Corbeanu, Derrick Etienne Jr, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint
Supplemental players (roster slots 21-30): Adisa De Rosario, Kobe Franklin, Nicksoen Gomis, Stefan Kapor, Adam Pearlman, Lazar Stefanovic, Kosi Thompson, Marcus Cimermancic, Malik Henry, Deandre Kerr
MLS clubs are not required to fill roster slots 19 and 20, but they do need to have at least 18 players on their senior roster. Teams are slapped with a minimum salary budget charge for each unfilled senior roster slot below 18.
That means GM Jason Hernandez has to sign at least four senior players by the MLS roster compliance date, which is on Feb. 20. Assuming he gets a DP striker, three other senior team players have to be brought in before the start of the season. He can achieve this via transfers, making trades with other MLS teams once the league's primary transfer window opens next week, or by converting someone on the team's supplemental roster into a senior roster player.
Toronto FC opens the 2026 MLS regular season away to FC Dallas on Feb. 21. (Note: I will be at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas to cover this game for TFC Republic).
John Molinaro
Two more games for Reds in Spain this week.
Toronto FC’s next pre-season match in Spain is against Norwegian club Fredrikstad FK on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (6:00 a.m. ET). The game will be live streamed on TFC's official website.
Fredrikstad is one of Norway's most successful clubs having won nine league championships and 12 Norwegian cups. It finished eighth in the 16-team league during the 2025 season. Fredrikstad's 2026 campaign is slated to begin in March.
TFC and Fredrikstad met during last year's pre-season in Spain when they played to a 1-1 draw. Theo Corbeanu scored for the Reds.
TFC close out their pre-season schedule when they play Polissya Zhytomyr of Ukraine behind closed doors on Feb. 14. The team is scheduled to fly back to Toronto the next day.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Considered one of Toronto's brightest young prospects, Henry was signed to a first team contract last August after originally joining TFC 2 in March. He marked his senior team debut on Aug. 9 by coming off the bench to set up Deandre Kerr's injury time equalizer in a 1-1 draw away to the Philadelphia Union. He made eight more substitute appearances to close out the season and made his debut for the Canadian men's team last month. I recently chatted one-on-one with Henry about his career so far and what goals he has ahead of the 2026 MLS season. Look for my feature story on Henry later this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- A notebook news column on the team's Spanish training camp.
- Post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Fredrikstad FK.
- The weekly "TFC Random Thoughts" column.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- The reader mailbag.
- The latest instalment in our ongoing "TFC Flashback" series
- And much more!
TFC Republic mailbag
TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.
I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.
TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.
