MONTREAL – Issey Nakajima-Farran made it perfectly clear in two tweets that he was shocked to get traded.
But the shock has subsided, his 30th-birthday party helping. At least he hadn’t even unpacked in Toronto, with the cargo box of his belongings still in Spain.
“What’s done is done,” a smiling Nakajima-Farran told reporters on Monday following his first training session with the Montreal Impact after last week’s trade from Toronto FC. “I’m over it.”
Nakajima-Farran joined Toronto on trial in January, five months after cancelling his contract with Cyprus’ Larnaca. Signed by TFC in March, he was just getting settled when Toronto traded him to Montreal for Collen Warner on Friday.
“[Getting traded] just doesn’t happen in Europe or Asia, so I’m just not used to this," Nakajima-Farran said, noting he had just found a permanent place in Toronto. “I was just shocked when they told me that, on my birthday, I was just shocked. It is what it is in MLS. I had no idea.”
Settling in Montreal should be fairly easy.
Nakajima-Farran’s technique and imagination has already caught the eyes of players – including old friends Patrice Bernier and Heath Pearce – and staff members at the Impact, where he’ll be an attractive option out wide.
In Toronto, on the other hand, Nakajima-Farran knew that he had to dislodge the likes of Jackson, Alvaro Rey, Jonathan Osorio and Dwayne De Rosario for a spot. But the challenge was an appealing one. After two goals in five league games, Nakajima-Farran felt he was on the right direction.
“But I guess I didn't realize it was going to be that short,” Nakajima-Farran said.
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The timing of the trade, as well as TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen commenting that Nakajima-Farran wasn’t a starter when everyone was fit, raised some questions.
“I understood that Montreal was interested in the early stages, so I don’t know why TFC didn’t let me go in the first place,” Nakajima-Farran said. “If I wasn’t part of the plan, why? But then again, MLS has all these different rules, right? Discovery and all these things I’ve never even heard of. What can I say?”
At least Nakajima-Farran has some experience navigating such administrative mazes.
He’s been filing paperwork to get his cargo box to North America since January.
“All my life, I'm waiting for it to get here, my car and everything,” Nakajima-Farran said. “I'm just waiting to make it really feel like home.”
