Toronto FC declines contract option on leading scorer Prince Owusu

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Toronto FC has officially added forward Prince Owusu, the club’s leading scorer, and defender Luke Singh to its list of players headed out the door.

The MLS club announced last month it was passing on the 2025 contract options of defenders Aime Mabika and Shane O’Neill, midfielder Brandon Servania and goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh. At the time, it said it had until the league deadline of Wednesday to decide the future of Owusu and Singh, a 24-year-old who spent the season in the Canadian Premier League at Atletico Ottawa.

It now appears talks between the parties did not lead to anything. TFC announced Wednesday it will not exercise the options on Owusu and Singh. Both will be eligible for Stage 1 of the MLS re-entry draft after the MLS Cup final.

The six players earned a total of $2,198,520 last season (all figures in U.S. dollars) led by Owusu’s $807,500, Servania’s $602,710 and O’Neil’s $413,000.

Owusu had nine goals in 31 league outings this season, but six of those were scored before mid-May. He also had three goals in Canadian Championship play.

The 27-year-old German, who joined Toronto in August 2023 from SV Jahn Regensburg of the German second division, ranked fifth on TFC’s salary list. Owusu, who started 20 games, split duties with 21-year-old Canadian Deandre Kerr, whose three goals in 26 appearances (including 12 starts) came at a cost of $105,319 this season.

Toronto previously announced it was exercising contract options for Kerr, goalkeeper Luka Gavran, defenders Kobe Franklin and Kevin Long, midfielders Alonso Coello and Kosi Thompson and wingback Tyrese Spicer.

That brings the TFC roster to 25 players, with 18 previously under contract for next season including designated players Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi.

That includes midfielder Cassius Mailula, who is on loan to Wydad Athletic Club through next July, with the Moroccan club having the option to make the move permanent when the loan spell ends.

MLS teams are allowed an active roster of up to 30 players. The salary budget per club was $5.47 million this season, covering 18 to 20 senior players.

The league has mechanisms like allocation money to buy down salary cap hits. And the salaries of players on the supplemental roster (slots 21-30) do not count toward a club’s salary budget.

Toronto missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season, finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference at 11-19-4. That prompted MLSE president and chief executive Keith Pelley to declare “TFC is a complete rebuild … Everything is on the table.”

A striker is at the top of the shopping list. Only Austin (39 goals), Nashville (38) and New England (37) scored fewer goals than Toronto’s 40 this season.

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There is room to add a marquee player. General manager Jason Hernandez said last month the club now has “more than double” the salary cap space than it did last year.

Canadian fullback/wingback Richie Laryea, Toronto’s third designated player, could have his contract restructured to remove the DP status if needed for a newcomer. Laryea made $1,329,438 this season.

Toronto could add flexibility if it opts to go with the so-called “U-22 Initiative” roster model which allows for up to two designated players and up to four U-22 Initiative roster players. That comes with a bonus of up to an additional $2 million in general allocation money.

In 2024, players occupying a U-22 initiative slot carried the salary cap hit of a young designated player ($150,000 for ages 20 and younger, and $200,000 for ages 21-23) no matter their actual salary.

DPs aged 24 or older carried the maximum salary budget charge of $683,750.

Servania, returning from knee surgery, was sidelined until August when he made his return with TFC 2. The 25-year-old, whose salary ranked ninth among TFC players, appeared for the first team a month later, seeing a total of just 63 minutes in three games including one start.

Hernandez also noted Servania would have been due “a considerable jump” in salary if the contract option was exercised.

The 31-year-old O’Neill, who earned $413,000, saw action in 20 games, including 14 starts, in an injury-disrupted season. The 26-year-old Mabika, who made $133,125, fell down the depth chart and played in 12 games, including three starts.

The 31-year-old Ranjitsingh, who earned $94,200, was Toronto’s third-string goalkeeper behind starter Sean Johnson and Gavran.

Insigne and Bernardeschi, whose combined salaries of $21.695 million produced 12 goals and 15 assists this season, are under contract through June 2026 and the end of 2026, respectively. The club has contract options on Insigne through 2026 and Bernardeschi through 2028.