Two Trades Net Toronto FC Two Players, Added Flexibility

Aron Winter promised there would be changes forthcoming. On Thursday, he delivered on his promise in a big way. Two trades resulted in three players being shipped out and two more coming in along with some allocation money and an international roster spot.

Gone are Alan Gordon, Jacob Peterson and Nana Attakora, all shipped out to the San Jose Earthquakes. In are Terry Dunfield and Ryan Johnson. Dunfield was acquired for allocation money, while Johnson was acquired along with an international roster spot and allocation money.

"We are rebuilding the club and this deal was necessary to continue that process" said Winter said in a team release.

While Peterson and Attakora were both remnants of previous administrations, Gordon was a player that had been acquired as one of the first moves of Winter era in exchange for Nick LaBrocca. Gordon had actually played reasonably well, scoring four goals in eight matches, but has battled injuries most of the this season.

Johnson probably has the biggest upside of any player involved in the trades, but is also mired in a disappointing season. He is just 26, two years removed from an 11-goal campaign and a year removed from a year in which he had eight assists. This year, though, he has not scored a single goal, meaning he's scored just once in the past season and a half, obviously not enough for a forward.

In Dunfield, TFC gets a player who has six caps for the Canadian national team, and had played reasonably well during his time with the Whitecaps. He had fallen out of favor with new coach Tom Soehn, though, and now appeared to be the odd man out. Winter will probably be looking for him to help stabilize a midfield that has been among the team's weak points.

These moves seem to signal further changes are in the works. The international transfer window opens on Friday, and while TFC no longer has any Designated Player slots, they should have picked up some cap room with all these moves.