A titan comes to Toronto.
Toronto FC announced on Monday that Mexican international Carlos Salcedo joined the club.
The 28-year-old defender arrives in camp from Tigres UANL and returns to the league where his professional career began as a homegrown player for Real Salt Lake.
Salcedo spent two seasons in MLS before returning to the country of his birth with CD Guadalajara. Stints in Italy and Germany, with Fiorentina and Eintracht Frankfurt, would follow, before he returned to Liga MX with Tigres.
A stalwart for the Mexican national team, Salcedo ticks a lot of boxes for what TFC needed.
“We've had so many different discussions going, different factors, a lot of moving parts – I've said that over and over, but I knew Carlos really well,” said TFC Head Coach and Sporting Director Bob Bradley on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we at LAFC lost in the final of Champions League to Tigres. Carlos played a really important role in that Tigres team. He's been an important player for Mexico.”
“The story of a young player that was part of the RSL Academy and then moved on, a stint in Europe and then back to Mexico, and everything that he's done, stands out and wherever he's been clearly you can tell he's a winner. He's a competitor. He's got personality,” he continued. “So I think all those things were exciting to us.”
Salcedo took part in his first session shortly before being introduced to the media on a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon and that familiarity goes both ways.
“Great practice, great atmosphere, a lot of young players – that makes me feel young as well. I needed that, I was in a team that probably I was the youngest at 28, imagine. So now I feel old, but at the same time I feel young,” Salcedo smiled. “The first impression is great because I also spoke with [fellow Mexican international and LAFC forward Carlos] Vela about Bob and what I can say is only great things, that's what he told me.”
Said Bradley: “You see right away his presence on the field.”
“We've talked about his ability to help us play from the back, he's a very good passer,” continued the coach. “He's done a great job of coming into a group, getting to know guys, being down to earth, being real. Young guys, veterans, he’s made a point of reaching out to everyone in a really good way.”
A fierce competitor, TFC were also drawn to his experience, versatility, and leadership.
“We felt he brings a lot,” levelled Bradley. “His experience, his versatility in the defense – he's played both as a right centre-back, left centre-back, he's played in a back three. All those things come into play.”
“The leadership part is important,” he added. “No matter how you play in the back, the understanding of the two centre-backs or the understanding of the back three, the ability to cover for each other, all those things become really important.”
Salcedo had plenty of offers on the table, but when he heard from his old friend TFC President Bill Manning, who was President of RSL when Salcedo signed for the first team, his ears perked up.
“[Bill] helped me a lot. He was always there for me to ask if I needed something,” Salcedo said. “I've been all over the world playing, but I never forget those people that have been there for you.”
“So when he talked to me about the project and the ambition of the club to restart again this year,” he explained. “Also the city, the lifestyle, everything – that has to be a part because my wife, my kid, it's something that helps us to take the decision.”
“I know Toronto well,” Salcedo continued. “The past years, they’ve done great stuff, so for me that's the main reason: to be in a team that wants to fight for every competition. I'm here to help the team and do great things during this period.”
The league he left back in 2014 was one full of potential. The one he joins is a different prospect.
“I said it when I left it's growing and now it's a reality,” Salcedo highlighted. “You see Toronto fighting for Concacaf, LAFC that I got the opportunity to play against. Now it's an established league.”
“And for me, it's a great honour to come back after 10 years,” he added. “I'm so excited for the first game and I want to thank everyone that made this happen.”
In a move that saw Yeferson Soteldo go the other way, Salcedo joins TFC as a Designated Player, a label that carries extra weight.
“That's just a name,” replied Salcedo, asked his thoughts on the label. “I always try to help my teammates and try to improve because as a football player you always can improve, you always learn something.”
“I just see that as a name,” he added. “But I'm coming here to put everything to add to the team.”
Historically teams have shied away from targeting defensive players with those resources.
“I'm not the best in terms of when we talk about things like, ‘historically DPs are not defenders,’” levelled Bradley. “I really look at quality players in positions, especially down the middle of the field.”
“I think back often to the team that we put together in Chicago and Lubos Kubik,” he continued. “This was pre-DP, but he was such an important part of the organization, of being able to play from the back. When you've got a presence down the centre of the field, when you've got players that are smart, that know how to keep the team connected, those are all important areas to become a really good team.”
Known as El Titan, if that promise wasn’t enough, Salcedo laid out his mindset plainly when asked about the DP tag in Spanish: “I will say it this way: if I was earning $1 or $10 I would still put the same effort on the field and I'll just keep working because this is the way I am, a player that likes to win and play hard every day.”
