TFC Republic Weekly: July 13-19

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...

TFC Republic is back from vacation 

After taking a vacation last week, TFC Republic has returned and will resume regular service, starting today. 

That means the website will be updated with daily content and in-depth analysis that you've come to expect from us. Also, I will be travelling to cover two of Toronto FC's next three road games: July 13 vs. CF Montreal and July 25 vs. D.C. United.  

Toronto FC set to return after lengthy hiatus 

Like the rest of the teams in MLS, Toronto FC has been off since the third week of May when the league went on hiatus due to this summer's FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. 

TFC haven't played a competitive match since suffering a 2-1 loss away to the Chicago Fire on May 23, a result that extended their losing streak to three consecutive matches in MLS – the Reds are also winless in eight games (four losses) with their previous victory coming on April 4. The break allowed the team to regroup and also gave it a chance to get players healthy and fit after dealing with a rash of injuries through the first 14 matches of the campaign. 

Winless in nine games across all competitions, Toronto (3-6-5) sits 13th in the Eastern Conference, four points below the playoff line with a game in hand. There are 20 games left in the MLS season, but TFC have some work to do to climb back up the standings after they failed to take advantage of a league schedule that saw them win just two of nine home games before the break.  

The Reds' next four games are all on the road with contests against CF Montreal, New England Revolution, D.C. United and New York City FC. 

"Ultimately, the goal is to culminate with a playoff berth; that's what we're here to do. It starts with a really difficult game at Montreal, and so we'll have to go step by step. We're quite fortunate [in that] we've had this World Cup break; in a normal season we'd be dead, obviously, having to play through with the injuries, and to have 20 games remaining on the backside of a summer trench window is quite rare," GM Jason Hernandez said last week. 

"Typically, you have only a handful of games remaining, and any new additions might not be able to give you a lift in time. And so, it's a unique season. It gives us a unique ability to, I would say, begin to rewrite what this last month of league play was, and we're gonna go for it, so we're all really excited about that." 

MLS summer transfer window opens today 

Major League Soccer observes two transfer windows each year.  

This season's primary transfer window ran from Jan. 26 to March 26. Toronto FC made a number of moves during that window, most notably securing the transfer of Josh Sargent and trading for Dániel Sallói. 

The secondary transfer window opens today and closes on Sept. 2.  

During the summer transfer windows, MLS clubs can:  

• Sign players who are out of contract. 
• Buy and sell players via transfer both from teams within MLS and from abroad. 
• Make trades with other MLS teams, either for players or assets (GAM, draft picks, etc.). 
• Sign players on loan from clubs within MLS and from abroad.  

Toronto recently declined the purchase option on midfielder José Cifuentes (whose loan ended in June and he returned to Rangers), and bought out the contracts of defender Henry Wingo and forward Cassius Mailula, so they have opened up some salary cap space and roster spots. The Reds only pulled off a cash-for-player trade with Real Salt Lake for Nelson Palacio. 

Jason Hernandez said last week he is looking to bolster the midfield and defence during the summer transfer window, but that he was only looking to add a few pieces rather than make wholesale changes. 

"Certainly, we believe the middle of the park is a place we need to strengthen. I still think the back line is probably a place we can strengthen as well, so we're going to continue to do the work. I think we'll make a handful of additions, and certainly for us, window over window, how many folks can we bring in that are going to improve us, make us stronger, make us deeper, and so that'll be the goal of the summer," Hernandez explained. 

TFC vs. CF Montreal on Thursday 

Toronto FC and CF Montreal square off for the first time this season when they meet at Stade Saputo on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET/TSN & Apple TV). 

Montreal (4-8-2) sits 11th in the Eastern Conference, two spots above Toronto but level on points. Montreal is winless in its last three MLS games and is coming off a two-legged win this month over Vancouver FC of the CPL to advance to the semifinals of the 2026 Canadian Championship.   

Like Toronto, Montreal has struggled on the offensive side of things in MLS with just 22 goals, tied for fourth worst in the East. Former TFC striker Prince Owusu leads the team in goals (nine) and assists (five). 

Montreal also has the fourth worst defensive record in the East with 31 goals against. 

This week's match is the first of two meetings during the regular season between Toronto and Montreal. They'll meet again on Oct. 10 at BMO Field.  

Note: I will be at Stade Saputo in Montreal to cover Thursday's game, so be sure to visit TFC Republic in order to check out our special on-site coverage. 

RELATED READING: Newsletter || Features || Match reports || Opinion || Q&As || Videos || News || Transactions || TFC 2 ||

Stories to look out for at TFC Republic     

What can we expect from Toronto FC after being on hiatus since late May? How will the club respond after being off for so long? We'll have a feature story on the big questions facing TFC as they return to action for the first time in nearly two months.

Other stories that will be published this week include:                            

• A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.    
• A feature story on the what transfer moves TFC might make this summer.  
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. CF Montreal.      
• An audio interview piece with reporter Elias Grigoriadis of the Canadian Press ahead of Thursday's road game in Montreal.    
• A feature story on veteran fullback Richie Laryea.
• The weekly TFC 2 report.
• Regular "TFC Tidbits" news stories throughout the week.            
• 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.