TORONTO – A rather recognizable face to Italian soccer fans has been among a group of trialists training with Toronto FC over the past few days.
Former Parma midfielder and Italian international Daniele Galloppa has been on trial with TFC, the club confirmed Thursday. Head coach Greg Vanney said Galloppa, who happens to share an agent with countryman and current TFC star Sebastian Giovinco, was in town with the Italian season having concluded, leading to the trial.
“He was in town and we got him in training and took a look at him,” Vanney said.
The 30-year-old has two senior caps for the Azzurri after featuring throughout their youth ranks, and he also played with Giovinco in 2010 at Parma, who were recently relegated from Serie A. The two were seen walking off the training grounds together. Vanney said that while he’s always looking at new players, any new signing would first require some more moves to be made internally..
“The challenge with MLS is that we have a full roster and a full budget so anything we have to do is going to require some other move,” Vanney said. “We’re always looking to make our team better, but at the same time, nothing is imminent. In terms of what we’re trying to do, we’re doing our diligence and looking around at all possibilities.”
Vanney also said that there wouldn’t be any wholesale changes to the team, either.
“I’m pretty comfortable with our team,” Vanney said. “The challenge is always injuries and making sure that guys are healthy and that you can rely on them in the long haul and in the most important time of the year come playoffs. For me, that’s the only thing that gives me any question on whether we need to reinforce anything. But aside from that, I’m happy with our group. We would only do anything if we really thought it made sense for our team.”
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While having trialists and Academy prospects in training isn’t anything new for Toronto FC, Vanney remained coy as to the identities of the other two trialists, only confirming Galloppa as one of the three. With the CONCACAF Gold Cup around the corner, Vanney also explained that moves would not be made hastily just because the summer window opens, adding that signings must have a “longer-term view.”
“At the end of the day, the Gold Cup affects three games for us,” Vanney said. “So, anything we do isn’t going to be related to the Gold Cup; it’s going to be about making our team better for the long haul and hopefully help position us for playoffs. Nothing will be done with a short-term view to it.”
