Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo declared at the club’s year-end press conference that his objective is for the team to win a Major League Soccer Cup within the next five years.
“Five years is a long time,” he joked to Adam Braz, the team’s technical director. Saputo noted this was the latest time of year he’s held the team’s year-end presser due to the fact the team went further than it ever had in the league playoffs.
The club’s future seems bright despite the departure of superstar forward Didier Drogba. Nine of the club’s 11 starters who made the run to the MLS semifinals are returning for 2017, with negotiations underway to sign the other two.
Matteo Mancosu, the striker who took over Drogba’s role on the team and was a key offensive player this year, is on loan through June from Bologna FC. The team would like to keep him for longer than that, and has their sights on signing another Bologna player, Blerim Dzemaili.
Saputo seemed to indicate that he envisioned taking a strategy of developing players and keeping a healthy corps of role-players than to go out and hire splashy internationals.
When a reporter pointed out that Toronto FC’s top three players made more than $20 million, he said the Impact didn’t have to spend that kind of money to win.
In the past 18 months, the club has broken new ground, getting to the CONCACAF Champions League finals and barely missing the MLS finals this year.
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