USMNT’s Sargent joins Toronto after ‘unfortunate’ Norwich exit

Toronto FC has completed the transfer of United States international striker Josh Sargent from English Championship side Norwich City, the club announced on Friday.

ESPN had previously reported that Toronto will pay Norwich a fee of $22 million, which could rise to $27 million if certain incentives are met. The fee currently ranks in the top five that an MLS side has ever paid for an incoming transfer.

The highest-ever fee is believed to be the $26 million that LAFC paid for Son Heung-Min last summer, which the Sargent move will eclipse if all the incentives are reached.

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Sargent has signed a five-and-half-year contract that will keep him in Toronto through June of 2031.

In an interview with ESPN, Sargent said that with the arrival of his third child last December, he and his wife Kirsten were eager to get back to North America to be closer to extended family.

The team that Toronto is putting together, one that includes international teammates Djordje Mihailovic and Walker Zimmerman, also held appeal for Sargent.

“Over the last year or so, with all of my kids and everything in my family expanding, it’s kind of become more and more appealing, the thought of moving a bit closer to home.” Sargent said about joining TFC.

“Toronto reached out, I had very good talks with them. They seem to have a very good project that they have planned here. The ownership is all about it and they’re all in with it. So there were just a lot of things that sounded very attractive to me and very clear of their vision. So yeah, it was exciting.”

The move completes a bitter transfer saga that began last December when Toronto first made its approach with an offer of $18 million. When talks appeared to break down in January, Sargent sat out an FA Cup match against Walsall on Jan. 11, and following a meeting with sporting director Ben Knapper and manager Philippe Clement, Sargent was sent to train with the Canaries’ U21 side.

Sources tell ESPN that during that meeting, Knapper made comments about Sargent’s family. Sargent was seen to be visibly upset by these remarks, and he never played for Norwich again.

Sargent didn’t go into much detail about his final days with the Canaries.

“It was unfortunate how things worked out there, I think,” he said about Norwich. “But I’m happy to finally be here, happy to get started with a new chapter in my life and I’m just fully focused on trying to put that behind me and hit the ground running here.”

When asked if he had gotten the chance to say a proper goodbye, Sargent added, “I think the only thing I’m going to say is there’s two sides to every story. I think I got to say goodbye to all the people that I was close to, and understood the situation and yeah, that’s probably all I want to say about it to be honest.”

The move is the latest in a lengthy rebuild for Toronto that finally appears to be coming to fruition. Toronto claimed a domestic treble of MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship in 2017, but the last time the Reds qualified for the postseason was in the Covid-impacted season of 2020.

In addition to Mihailovic and Zimmerman, Toronto recently acquired midfielder Dániel Sallói. TFC has an experienced manager in Robin Fraser.

“I know there’s a lot of video [Fraser] is wanting to do on that side of things for sure,” Sargent said.

Sargent finishes his Norwich career with 55 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. He scored seven goals in 23 league matches this season.

His international prospects have dwindled this campaign, with his last callup to the U.S. men’s national team occurring back in September. He hasn’t scored for the U.S. since 2019.

When asked how he thinks the move will impact his international prospects, Sargent said he’s fully focused on Toronto, and didn’t discuss the potential move with U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

“I’m fully focused on trying to start well here,” he said. “That’s truly what I care about, and if you do well at the club level, it puts you in a good position to get with [the] national team. So that’s where my full focus is at the moment. And off the back of that, if I can get back with the team, have another chance, I’d be very happy, of course.”

Additionally, Toronto FC acquired St. Louis City SC’s right of first refusal (ROFR) for Sargent in exchange for $500,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) — $250,000 in 2026 GAM and $250,000 in 2027 GAM — and up to an additional $225,000 in conditional GAM if certain performance-based metrics are met.

He will be added to TFC’s roster, pending a medical and receipt of his work permit and International Transfer Certificate (ITC).