Lorenzo Insigne accepts Toronto FC offer to join the club during the summer

Negotiations were moving in the right direction but today the deal was made official: Lorenzo Insigne will be playing in the MLS for the next five seasons after accepting Toronto FC’s offer to join them after his contract with SSC Napoli expires.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Lorenzo Insigne and his agent had a reunion in Rome with Toronto FC representatives in Rome, in order to get the deal done, and they’ve already signed the contract that ties Insigne to the Canadian team until 2027.

Insigne’s arrival to the MLS will have to wait until the 2021/2022 season is finished, but fans can be excited as this might be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, deal made by a MLS team with a player that is still in his prime, although other players, like Giovinco, had questioned his decision to join the MLS side.

The current captain of Napoli couldn’t refuse the deal that Toronto FC extended to him, as it’s worth $12 million per season plus add-ons that could be worth up to $4.5 extra million.

The 30-year-old was part of the Italian National Team that won the 2020 Euro, where he as part of all of the nine games the Italians played, and had a key role as he contributed with two goals.

During the current season, Insigne has played a total of 18 games out of 25 possible, and he’s been in the starting XI in 17 of them. So far, he’s managed to score five goals and assist on six occasions. Four of those goals were scored in Serie A and the last one in Europa League, where they’ll face Barcelona in the Round of 16.

Insigne’s stint with Napoli

Lorenzo Insigne joined Napoli’s senior squad in 2010 after playing for the Academy teams since he was a kid. Between 2010 and 2012, the left-winger was loaned three times to Italian teams from lower tiers, something that help him gain experience and regularity.

He joined for good to Napoli’s squad at the start of the 2012/2013 season, and he’s been a part of the team ever since. His tenure will end after nine uninterrupted years playing for his childhood team.

Up until today, he’s played a total of 415 games with Napoli throughout nine seasons. During this period of time he’s scored 114 goals and assisted 91 times across all competitions. He also has won the Italian Cup on two occasions, but hasn’t managed to help Napoli win the league, something he can achieve this season before he leaves.

Who could take his place after he leaves?

It’s obvious Lorenzo Insigne will leave a huge mark in every Napoli fan, but the club will need to find someone to fill his shoes, at least on the pitch, as soon as he’s out of the door.

One of the players that is currently on the roster and could benefit from his departure is the Mexican Hirving “Chuky” Lozano, who can play on the same position as Insigne and is a deadly striker when the circumstances are right.

The 26-year-old can play as right-winger and left-winger, something that he could take advantage of once Insigne leaves the club.

He’s been on Napoli’s squad since the Italian club acquired him out of Dutch PSV at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season. On the two-and-a-half-seasons with the Azzurri, Lozano has played 103 games and scored 43 goals. He also assisted his teammates on 10 occassions.