Toronto FC agrees deal to sign Josh Sargent from Norwich City, ending transfer saga: Sources
Toronto FC has agreed to a deal to sign U.S. international forward Josh Sargent from Norwich City, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic.
The agreement ends a protracted saga that spilled public after Sargent asked to be left out of Norwich’s squad for an FA Cup match last month. He was ultimately banished to train with the club’s Under-21 side and did not play for the first team again, missing Norwich’s last eight games as the relationship between player and club broke down. Even so, the club maintained its stance that Sargent, who was under contract through 2028, would not be sold.
Sources with the Championship club indicate Toronto is paying an upfront fee of $22million (£16.3m) for the 25-year-old, with add-ons taking the deal to $27m (£20m).
Norwich had declined Toronto’s earlier $18 million bid, as previously reported by The Athletic, with the MLS club’s valuation deemed not high enough. Even at $22m the fee will be one of the largest in MLS history, behind Son Heung-min ($26.5 million, LAFC) and Emmanuel Latte Lath ($22 million, Atlanta United).
Sargent immediately becomes the focal point of Toronto FC’s reloaded squad. He leads the line with fellow designated player Djordje Mihailovic, with free agent center back Walker Zimmerman and central midfielder Jose Cifuentes supplying the support.
Sargent still harbors hopes of breaking back into the USMNT squad ahead of the World Cup this summer. He has 29 caps for his country, the most recent of which in September, but he infamously has not scored for the U.S. since 2019 and has his work cut out for him, with Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright and Patrick Agyemang all appearing to be higher on Mauricio Pochettino’s pecking order among forwards.
It’s not for a lack of productivity on the club level. Sargent was named to EFL Championship Team of the Season last year with 15 goals and five assists across 32 appearances and scored seven league goals this campaign before the run-in with the club and manager Philippe Clement. Sargent had been with Norwich since 2021, featuring in both the Premier League and Championship, and he scored 56 goals in 157 appearances across all competitions for the club.
Sargent and his wife recently welcomed their third child and were ready to head back to North America for the first time since Sargent signed with Werder Bremen in Germany when he turned 18. The St. Louis native specifically wanted the move to Toronto this winter, irrespective of interest in England and Germany.
He’ll look to reinvigorate a club that has had a nightmarish half decade. Toronto hasn’t lacked for financial ambition, but it has fallen well short of expectations. The club signed Italian stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi to much fanfare, but missed the playoffs every year amid off field turmoil. The club cycled through coaches and other bad signings. Jason Hernandez was named GM and began to overhaul the group. Last summer saw departures of Insigne and Bernardeschi, while the winter saw further bad contracts expire.
Toronto should be better positioned to seriously compete in 2026 for the first time in a long time around its new core.
