Dominguez signing suggests Lorenzo Insigne won war of wills with Toronto FC | OneFootball

Taken by itself, Toronto FC's acquisition of Maxime Dominguez on loan from Vasco da Gama is a sensible signing.

Dominguez has proven himself a capable chance creator at levels marginally better than MLS. And Toronto don't appear to be investing enormous resources into the Swiss international, signing him on loan with an option to buy, on a contract that doesn't require a Designated Player tag.

But zoom out, and the fact that Toronto is making this kind of move at this moment at the club shows a continued denial of a larger problem that it appeared maybe the club was finally recognizing.

For most of the winter and early spring, Toronto looked ready to move beyond Lorenzo Insigne, whether Insigne was ready or not. That potentially involed having to eat the league's second-most expensive contract behind Lionel Messi's, valued at $15.4 million last season, according to data from the MLS Players Association.

But Insigne reportedly resisted winter moves back to Europe that would've allowed TFC to recoup at least a portion of what they owe the Euro 2020 winner. And then mysteriously, he was back on the field playing a full 90 minutes on Matchdays 5 and 6, after having not dressed for the first four games.

Rolling the dice again

The addition of Dominguez suggests a club now concluding that its best option is to try and ride with Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi one more time.

In Dominguez, the Reds are signing a player who may be able to attract some defensive attention away from Insigne and Bernardeschi, but not on a level that would make him anything more than defenses' third or fourth priority (depending on your assessment of Deandre Kerr).

He's most likely slightly above a replacement-level No. 10 in MLS. He's never averaged more than 0.4 total goal contributions per 90 minutes, and the only place he did that at on an extended basis is with Gil Vicente in the bottom half of the Portuguese top flight.

He could be a nice piece for a team already in position to contend. But at Toronto, he probably raises the ceiling only to fringe playoff contention, and that's only because of the league's extremely forgiving format.

Admittedly, with Insigne back in the lineup the last two weeks, Toronto has looked more competitive. But that is an extremely low bar to clear.

The track record is clear

The Reds have still been outcreated by 1.9 expected goals (xG) over those two matches, and they haven't created more than 0.7 xG in the five matches since their opener at D.C. United, a 2-2 draw in which Toronto earned a penalty.

This follows a 2024 campaign in which Toronto, with a more complete roster and some genuine enthusiasm at least early on under John Herdman, in only 10 of 34 league matches. And even if you get the most from Insigne and Bernardeschi when they're on the field, the reality also remains that the former is prone to repeated soft tissue injuries,

There's no reason to think this team will suddenly become a side capable of winning a major title (unless you count the Canadian Championship). And in that context, it's hard to understand why you'd commit the resources of yet another international roster spot to keeping two players on the pitch who could take up to 180 minutes a game away from players who have an actual chance to be a part of Toronto FC's next competitive side.

Maybe Toronto GM Jason Hernandez is hoping manager Robin Fraser can get Insigne to a level of productivity that would result in a summer offer Insigne would me more receptive to. Otherwise, it just like yet more denial of the pain that will be necessary to move on in the True North.