TFC Republic Weekly: January 19-25
From the sounds of it, Toronto FC will have to increase their offer to Norwich City in order to land Josh Sargent
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 in hot pursuit of Josh Sargent
Toronto FC is in desperate need of a new DP striker after scoring just 34 goals during the 2025 MLS campaign.
With this in mind, the club tabled an $18 million US bid for Norwich City and U.S. international striker Josh Sargent, who has proven to be somewhat of a prolific scorer over the last few seasons in the Championship. Nevertheless, it appears he wants to leave.
Sargent refused to play in Norwich City's 5-1 FA Cup victory over Mansfield on Jan.11, according to coach Philippe Clement. He was benched for disciplinary reasons for Norwich's next game, a 2-1 league win over Wrexham last weekend, and trained with the youth team all last week. Clement confirmed Monday that Sargent won't be with the team for a midweek match away to West Bromwich Albion.
Sargent has scored 56 goals for the Canaries in 157 games, and the club has maintained he will not be sold during this month's European transfer window unless their valuation is met.
"In football, you can never say never. If somebody comes tomorrow to pay £100m for Josh, he will go. Saying no to everything will not be the case, but only if it's something that's a win situation for the club [will he leave]," Clement said.
"What's really important in this situation is we're in a relegation battle, so that was clear in this transfer window that we don't have any intentions to sell Josh."
From the sounds of it, TFC will have to increase their offer to Norwich in order to land Sargent. From speaking to Norwich City beat reporter Connor Southwell, it doesn't appear as though the Canaries are in a rush to sell off Sargent and would be happy to wait until the summer transfer window to try to move him, even if that means he continues to be benched in the interim.
It's also important to note that while the European transfer window closes in early February, the MLS primary transfer window runs from late January to March. But I don't see Norwich selling off Norwich before its window closes.
Reds add veteran William Yarbrough to their roster
Toronto FC made another roster move last week when it signed goalkeeper William Yarbrough through the 2026 MLS campaign with an option for the 2027 sprint season.
It's a move that is as clear an indication as any that Luka Gavran, a 25-year-old from Hamilton, Ont., will be TFC's No. 1 goalkeeper this season following Sean Johnson's departure. The addition of Yarbrough also means that youngster Adisa De Rosario, 21, will more than likely continue to serve as the club's third-string goalkeeper and once again split his time between the first team and TFC 2, unless he's loaned out to another club.
Yarbrough, 36, is exactly the type of goalkeeper you want backing up Gavran in his first year as an MLS starter. Born in Mexico to American parents, Yarbrough has a great deal of experience having featured for several Mexican teams, including Club León with whom he recorded 52 shutouts in 203 appearances and won two league titles. He also played for Mexico's under-20 team and earned three caps for the U.S. men's senior side in 2015.
He played under current TFC coach Robin Fraser with the Colorado Rapids and spent time with the San Jose Earthquakes and Inter Miami. He didn't see a single minute of action for Miami and had his contract option declined for the 2026 season, paving the way for him to sign with TFC as a free agent and reunite with Fraser.
John Molinaro
TFC off to Spain on Tuesday to continue training camp
TFC players reported for medicals and worked out at the BMO Training Ground last week.
The team will be leaving for Spain on Tuesday to begin a three-week camp at the Marbella Football Centre. This is the second year in a row that the Reds have headed to Marbella for training camp.
Pre-season games in Spain will be announced at a later date.
The team is scheduled to return to Toronto on Feb. 15 and will then face FC Dallas in Texas in its 2026 MLS season opener on Feb. 21.
Reds to play Atlético Ottawa in Canadian Championship
The 2026 Canadian Championship is going to start off with a bang for Toronto FC.
TFC were drawn against Atlético Ottawa during Saturday night's official draw for this year's tournament. That means the Reds will host the reigning Canadian Premier League champions in the preliminary round of the competition from May 5-10.
The winner of that game advances to the two-legged quarter-finals where it will face the winner of the first-round match between FC Supra du Québec of the CPL vs. Woodbridge Strikers SC of League1 Ontario.
As reigning Canadian champions, the Whitecaps received a bye into the quarter-finals.
Here are the first-round matchups, which are all one game, winner-take-all affairs (home team listed first):
WEST BRACKET
Pacific FC (CPL) vs. Cavalry FC (CPL)
CF Montréal vs. Calgary Blizzard SC (League1 Alberta)
Vancouver FC (CPL) vs. Langley United (League1 B.C.)
Bye: Vancouver Whitecaps FC
EAST BRACKET
Forge FC (CPL) vs. Halifax Wanderers FC (CPL)
Inter Toronto FC (CPL) vs. CS Saint-Laurent (League1 Quebec)
Toronto FC vs. Atlético Ottawa (CPL)
FC Supra du Québec (CPL) vs. Woodbridge Strikers SC (League1 Ontario)
The Whitecaps will meet the Pacific-Cavalry winner, while the Montreal-Calgary Blizzard winner will take on either Vancouver FC or Langley. The Whitecaps and Montreal could meet in the semifinal.
The first round and the final are single matches, while the quarter-finals and semifinals are two-legged series. Saturday's draw determined that the winner of the western bracket will host the final.
The winner of the 2026 Canadian Championship qualifies for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, thus receiving a chance to advance for the 2028 FIFA Club World Cup.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
The MLS season is a little more than a month away, but Toronto FC continues to fill out its roster and is still in need of more depth at certain positions. Where do things stand at the moment with the squad numbers? We'll take a deep dive into the roster with a special feature story that will run later this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- A feature story on the top TFC stories to watch out for during pre-season.
- A notebook news column from training camp here in Toronto.
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- The weekly "TFC Random Thoughts" column.
- The reader mailbag.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- 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.
(Top photo by Alex Gallardo/Imagn Images)
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.
