Toronto FC Director of Soccer Mo Johnston has been commenting on Mo Edu's pending move to Scottish side Glasgow Rangers. "The deal is pending as Mo needs to get a work permit, but he is looking forward to his new challenge, and we're looking forward to moving on," said Johnston.
Johnston revealed that Rangers have been wanting to sign Edu since last year. "Walter Smith was looking at Mo last year. They made an offer and it was refused, but they watched him leading up to the Olympics and at the Olympics, and made another bid."
The money raised from the transfer will be split between Major League Soccer and Toronto FC. "The MLS gets 33 percent of the five million and 66 per cent comes to our club which we can utilize in many ways for the development of the soccer club; 500 will go on allocation money. We will make a proposal to the board to see if we can put it towards a practice facility, maybe a grass field here which I think is vital for us moving forward and obviously the Academy."
"Every year players leave MLS and it is something that is always going to happen," said Johnston. "Rangers are a huge club. I think it is a great story for him and shows kids that they should keep following their dream. He is one of the strongest people I know. If you look at how he handled being in the national team and being Rookie of the Year, he is strong mentally and I am sure he will handle this. You can't hold these young kids back. They have to graduate to the next level. It's a big loss for us but I could see it coming over the last few weeks."
Johnston expects more player movement in the next 24 hours. "There's another player leaving the club and another player coming in. I think the player coming in will help us immensely. I've had to go into the market in MLS which enables us to get a quality player. I'm also still on the market for a guy who is out of contract and another player within MLS."
