the toronto football club, who finished last season in the penultimate position in the MLS Eastern Conference, MLS, confirmed on Saturday what thousands of Napoli fans had already taken for granted after a torrent of unverified information. Lorenzo Insigne, 30, the captain of Napoli and the most creative player in the Italian team that won the last European championship, has signed a contract that will join the Canadian club for four seasons starting July 1. “This is a historic day,” President Bill Manning declared in a statement.
Naples is going through an epileptic fit. Few soccer environments have been pinned with such precision to the borders where the vile and sacred sentiments are tempered. Maradona’s successor in the place of the idol most beloved by most legendary fans in Italy, the young Insigne (1.63 m) is on his way to end his relationship with the tragic point that fuels the history of his community. Events accelerated last Tuesday when Sky Sports cameras caught him meeting a Toronto delegation at the St. Regis Hotel in central Rome. The meeting with Andrea D’Amico, the club’s North American envoy, paved the way for the process to be completed. Insigne on Friday signed the pre-contract document, a bridge to an agreement that will only be final when the transfer is made.
Insigne will turn 31 in June. The date will almost coincide with the expiration of his contract with Napoli, the subject of long and unsuccessful negotiations. Insigne’s representative told the media that his client wanted to pursue him, but that the club’s owner, Aurelio de Laurentiis, had only offered him a descending renewal in the amount of three million euros net per season, less than 50% of his credit. The current salary, which in recent years has positioned him as the best-paid Italian footballer in Serie A. A crime that, according to the agent, Toronto was more than willing to make up for it. as Gazzetta dello sport The footballer will net around 15 million euros for each of the four seasons he plays for the Canadian club, given salary and advertising contracts.
Insigne’s salary alone will reach $12.5 million a year, according to a net Gazzetta dello sport, and total according to the various agents that work with MLS. If the net amount, it would double the base salary David Beckham earned from LA Galaxy upon signing in 2007. “Lorenzo is a world-class striker at the height of his career,” Manning said. “He plays with joy and passion and our fans will love seeing him as part of our team.”
Toronto needs strengthening. He had just won six out of 34 matches last season, and his captains found it convenient to reproduce the experience of 2015, when they signed Sebastian Giovinco from Juventus. Giovinco’s passage through the MLS was successful. Even more mysterious is the result of a transplant like Insigne, whose energy was charged in a volcanic community, on the cultural opposites of the Toronto Icebergs.
More than 400 games
Insigne has played more than 400 matches for Napoli since becoming the most promising youth team in 2010. After a series of transfers to Cavese, Foggia and Pescara, he became the flag of the club that led him to win two Italian Cups. With the national team, he scored 10 goals in 53 matches and his contribution to the last European Championship was decisive as a midfielder, false winger or nine false goals. And his transfer will force the coach, Roberto Mancini, to seriously adjust the process of restructuring the team, which, if classified, will go to the World Cup in Qatar next November.
Insigne’s presence in Rome to negotiate his departure, last Tuesday, ignited Partenopean social networks. Just two days after Napoli’s trip to Turin, where he faced Juventus, the move was presented as an act of contempt for the club. Only the flawless performance of the old Dile Albee took the pressure off. Napoli tied 1-1 and remains in third place in the league, five points behind Milan and six points behind leaders Inter.
The question will be judged on Sunday, when Diego Maradona will show himself in relation to the match that Napoli and Sampdoria will play from 16:30.
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