Vorschau » club on a number of fronts.Toronto has several

TORONTO - Time is ticking on Jermain Defoe and there are a lot of moving parts for Toronto FC.While reports focus on Torontos price tag for the England striker, The Canadian Press has learned that a Defoe sale is part of a series of complicated moves designed to strengthen the MLS club on a number of fronts.Toronto has several legitimate offers on the table for Defoe. But rather than a strict sale, it is currently looking at a cash and swap deal that will bring a viable striker in return and start a domino effect elsewhere on the roster.U.S. international striker Jozy Altidore, currently with Sunderland, is high on the TFC shopping list.The club will then use the cash to help pay for a creative, attacking midfielder with Toronto identifying two possible marquee targets, both of whom would not be available until July 1. That wish list for a No. 10 includes a highly touted impactful player in his 20s currently plying his trade in Europe.Essentially Toronto is working on a string on deals — coming to terms with MLS headquarters, Defoe and the team buying Defoe, the targeted attacking midfielder and his club, and two other players.Toronto also has its sights set on Real Betis defender Damien Perquis, a 30-year-old French-born Poland international. Reports in Italy have also suggested an interest in 27-year-old Juventus forward Sebastian Giovinco.While the transfer window for English clubs does not close until the end of the month, Toronto is working on a tighter internal deadline. Defoe is due to report back next Saturday and the team does not need a repeat of the drama that surrounded the striker at the end of the summer transfer window.The team is exploring other trade options with the league and has bargaining chips with five of the first 37 picks, including Nos. 6, 9 and 11, at next weeks MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia. Whatever happens, the club should emerge with some young, inexpensive talent from the draft.Star midfielder Michael Bradley, like Defoe a designated player, is being kept up to date on all the moves and is involved in the decision-making.Should Toronto achieve all its goals, it will need a DP slot come July 1, since the replacement striker and attacking midfielder would bring TFCs DPs to four.Brazilian striker Gilberto is currently Torontos third and last DP. There is the hope that the league might institute some kind of hybrid fourth DP slot which would solve Torontos numbers problems. If not, something would have to give with the Brazilian in the crosshairs.While it has its eyes set on a new set of stars, Toronto appears to be taking a more holistic approach to the roster heading into the 2015 season. In the leadup to the 2014 campaign, Toronto made a loud splash with Defoe, Bradley and Gilberto but failed to address holes and lack of depth elsewhere in the squad.The 32-year-old Defoe is currently on a one-week training stint with Tottenham as he continues his rehab from a groin injury.Defoe started 2014 with a bang and proved, that when healthy, he can score in MLS — with 11 goals in 19 appearances. But injuries forced him to the sidelines the second half of the season and the club finished out of the playoffs for the eighth straight year with an 11-15-8 record.While more than a few Premier League managers have publicly mulled over Defoe and Torontos price tag, the MLS club has insisted that it will only move him for a fair price.Nevertheless, an English newspaper has reported that Toronto has reduced the price tag on Defoe. The tabloid Daily Mirror says Toronto has slashed its asking price from six million pounds (C$10.8 million) to three million ($5.4 million).That goes against GM Tim Bezbatchenkos recent declaration that good strikers are hard to find and come with a market price in the January transfer window.January is traditionally a sellers market. 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The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. Those 36-year-old legs of Manu Ginobilis have been feeling pretty spry this season. That spring in his step that had been missing for so much of last season was back, helping the Argentine magician become a game-changer again for the San Antonio Spurs. So when the lane opened up in the third quarter Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets, Ginobili decided to go for it. He rose up, cradled the ball in his left hand and threw down a solid, one-handed dunk. And with that, Ginobili joined the growing list of injured Spurs. The team said Wednesday that Ginobili strained his left hamstring on the dunk and will miss the next three to four weeks. Ginobili joins Danny Green (broken finger), Kawhi Leonard (broken left hand) and Tiago Splitter (sprained right shoulder) on the teams injured list, a run of bad luck that has torn apart the teams depth, particularly on the wing. "You play the guys on the bench," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "We cant play the guys on the other team. I know that." The team is hopeful Splitter, who hasnt played since Jan. 4, will return in time for the teams annual rodeo road trip, a 10-game stint that begins Monday in New Orleans. That would help out Tim Duncan and the big men up front, but the problems on the perimeter remain. After struggling for much of last season, Ginobili signed a two-year contract to remain in San Antonio. He has rebounded this season to resume his role as the Spurs playmaker off the bench, averaging 12.1 points, 4.5 assists and shooting 52 per cent on his 2-point shots. During a monthlong stretch from the middle of December to the middle of January, Ginobili scored at least 20 points five times in a 16-game span to help the Spurs once again establish themselves among the NBAs elite teams. Hes been pretty healthy as well, missing two games earlier in January because of a sore left hamstring before injuring it more severely on Tuesday night.dddddddddddd Ginobili, who has long been the emotional centre of this close-knit team, was dejected as he limped off the court. His injury puts even more responsibility on the shoulders of veteran Marco Belinelli, who has been a reliable shooter in a supporting role after coming over in free agency from the Chicago Bulls. Belinelli is averaging 10.9 points and shooting 46.7 per cent from 3-point range for the Spurs. With the injuries to Leonard and Green, Belinelli had become a starter on the wing and seen his playing time steadily increase. Belinelli played 38 minutes in the loss to Houston, and the Spurs recently signed NBDL standout Othyus Jeffers to a 10-day contract to give them another warm body on the perimeter. Thanks in large part to Ginobilis return to form, the Spurs entered Wednesdays game against the Bulls at 33-12, good for second place in the hyper-competitive Western Conference. But theyve lost three of their last four games, are 1-11 against the top seven teams in the league and now face the daunting challenge of that long road trip without Ginobili, and with Portland (33-13) and the Clippers (32-15) right on their heels. Chicago is facing its own injuries woes. All-Star point guard Derrick Rose was lost for the season with a knee injury for the second consecutive year and starting centre Joakim Noah (illness) and guard Kirk Hinrich (right hamstring) are game-time decisions for tonights game against San Antonio. So, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he has little empathy for the Spurs, not because Chicago is also battling injuries, but because of how deep San Antonio is. "Its the nature of the league. Its the grind of an 82-game season. Youre going to take injuries on. Its how you respond and the Spurs have always done a good job with that. Its the way the Spurs are built." ' ' '