TORONTO — While Toronto FC hopes South African international Cassius Mailula can make a difference this season, it's clear both parties have an eye to the future.
For TFC, the 22-year-old forward represents an investment in the future and a possible payday down the line. Mailula, meanwhile, believes the move to Major League Soccer will help open more doors.
Mailula arrives from Mamelodi Sundowns FC, whose academy he joined at the age of 13. He turned heads last season, his first with the first team, when he scored 16 goals and added five assists in all competitions to help Mamelodi finish atop the South African top tier. He has shown his commitment to giving youth a chance with Canadian forwards Ayo Akinola and Jordan Perruzza sent out on loan to the San Jose Earthquakes and CPL's HFX Wanderers FC, respectively.
Montreal gave up US$1.75 million in general allocation money last month to get Ghanaian forward Kwadwo Opoku from Los Angeles FC, the defending league champion."There's a reason why LAFC can be sustainable and consistent with their roster build … For the last three years, they started with a million dollars of GAM more than us every year," Hernandez said."So of course they can do things we can't do.
Loaning Akinola to San Jose helped open the way for the U-22 signing, although there was more work to do to pry Mailula loose. "To go out, do the work to find a young talented player that we think fits the profile for what we would like to see out of that position, out of that player profile, is exciting. At the end of the day, Cassius is moving to a new country, to a new league. There's going to be an adjustment period and a lot of work to do. But we're really exited about the opportunity and the possibilities.
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