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We are mere weeks away from Toronto FC players reporting for pre-season training camp. The question of who will be present and who will be elsewhere adds to the intrigue ahead of the new Major League Soccer season. With the January transfer window open and business to be done, the transfer rumour mill continues to churn, growing in name, scope and prominence in players involved. Through all the rumour and conjecture, all I can tell you is what I believe to be true and how the situation is playing out. If cards are played accordingly and all goes to plan, Toronto FC will replace Jermain Defoe with two European based players of quality. Nothing is set in stone. Much remains up in the air. The design is clear and the process remains fluid. Its common knowledge that all of Toronto FCs significant transfer dealings hinge on Defoe. Much work is being done behind the scenes to settle the issue and prepare for another significant play in the transfer market. As TSNs Luke Wileman reported Thursday, Toronto FC Head Coach Greg Vanney expects Defoe to return to Toronto for pre-season training January 17. His plane ticket is more likely to go unused or transferred into the name of another passenger. Defoe is currently training with his former club Tottenham Hotspur. This is absolutely by design. It keeps Defoe in the spotlight and on the radar of a number of Premier League teams interested in his services. Defoe is concerned with his personal and professional dealings in England, so not returning to Toronto remains the preferable option. Toronto FC remains diligent in working out a deal best for all parties. The right number and right deal has not been made for Defoe as of yet. However, Toronto FC has four or five legit Premier League suitors for Defoes services. The club is confident they can get a deal done on Toronto FCs terms before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. Interestingly enough, one of the interested clubs looking to add Defoe is Sunderland. The Black Cats have only scored 18 goals in 20 league games. Steven Fletcher leads all Sunderland strikers with a disappointing four-goal return. Defoe is a fit, and quite frankly, a need. Enter Sunderlands Jozy Altidore into the equation. Multiple outlets reported and Vanney acknowledged this week Toronto FC is among three MLS teams interested in the U.S. Mens National team and Sunderland striker. Altidore, 25, has failed to make his mark in the Premier League after a move from the Eredivisie in the summer of 2013. One goal in 42 games hardly does his quality justice. Still at a young age, powerful in physique and following in the footsteps of many other of his USMNT teammates, a move back to North American football makes absolute sense to resurrect his club career. Toronto FC has made a move for Altidore, and the American striker is said to be keen on joining Toronto. Michael Bradley remains a staunch advocate of the club and city, and his friendship with Altidore is an attraction, making Toronto his preferable MLS landing spot. Toronto FC are favourites for Altidore, and now its about getting a deal done. There is a match to be made between Toronto FC (Defoe) and Sunderland (Altidore). How and if the deal comes to be remains to be seen. Sunderland are believed to be keen on a swap, Defoe-for-Altidore and all that comes along with the players. A move as such isnt preferable for Toronto FC. Defoe is a more valuable commodity from a Premier League production perspective. Defoe is a proven goal scorer in Englands top flight - Altidore a disappointment at the top level. The pot would likely need to be sweetened for Toronto to agree to such a deal. A swap deal cannot entirely be ruled out, but other business incentives would have to be taken into consideration. For example, Toronto FC paid upwards of a $10 million transfer fee to bring Defoe to Toronto, but profited from other mutual business ventures with Tottenham, namely the summer friendly at BMO Field. The game was a money maker for Toronto FC. A like summer friendly with Sunderland wouldnt have the same cache, but is another chip to be considered with other business dealings. Defoe to Sunderland could very well end up happening. With multiple clubs calling for Defoe, Toronto FCs options are not limited. We sometimes believe Premier League clubs are flush with more cash than they actually have. Its a delicate process, so for the meantime, Toronto FC remain resolute, determined to get a deal preferable to what they are trying to achieve. There is confidence they will get what they want. It is not the goal of Toronto FC to merely sell Defoe and wash their hands clean. They are looking to build. They are looking to make an even bigger splash. This is the Tim Leiweke way. The outgoing CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is spear-heading the Defoe dealings and leading the recruitment/replacement process. A step-back, or even the status quo is not the aim. Further investment is the way. Bringing in another top level player and making another splash is the goal. Toronto FC is said to be very active in pursuing other significant names. Altidore is just one of them. The club has been linked to multiple big names over recent months. There seems to be some truth in a previous pursuit of Wesley Sneijder. Galatasaray are unwilling to part with the player, so that door closed quickly. This is the type of player Toronto FC covets to take the team to the next level. Reports out of Italy Friday go down a similar path. Toronto FC have been linked to Juventus striker Sebastian Giovinco. Such a move follows what I reported last week that Toronto FC wants to add more than just one piece (Altidore). Giovinco, 27, is out of favour at Juventus, having made only two Serie A starts on the season. Multiple European clubs are said to be seeking his services. None seem ready or willing to offer the kind of money Toronto FC is said to have on the table. Funny enough, Giovinco is also being linked to Tottenham, bringing the entire Toronto FC-Defoe-Tottenham relationship full circle. Giovinco would command a salary in the $7 million range. Can Leiweke convince the Board of Directors to invest this kind of money into the soccer property, on top of Bradley and potentially Altidores lucrative contracts? That remains to be seen. If Giovinco is intrigued by Toronto FCs audacious approach, which have reportedly caught the players attention, Leiweke will have the ultimate sell job to do to the MLSE Board of Directors to reach deeper into the coffers to bring in genuine talent. MLSE has already showed willingness to go above and beyond, with the expansion of BMO Field into a +30,000 seat facility opening further means and methods for club growth and profitability. The good news it seems Giovinco hasnt denied Toronto FCs advances. According to the report, Giovinco is intrigued by the North American adventure and seems keen to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta on an MLS journey. The fact the player is only 27, in his prime of his career, seeking out opportunity makes such a transfer even more spectacular, breaking away from the MLS trend of recruitment of big name players who are past their prime. Giovincos arrival would send shock waves across MLS - style and substance for a club dead-set on getting it right. A partnership with Altidore would be ideal, with Giovinco suited to play as a second striker or recess striker role. Make no mistake; Altidore and Giovinco are both realistic gets. How the negotiations, dealings, and roster shuffling plays out remain to be seen. Nothing is set in stone. But the process is moving fast. Its January 9 and MLS still doesnt have a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. That leaves Toronto FC, and all MLS teams attempting to build rosters through rules that may no longer be applicable. There is no clear consensus on where negotiations will end up and what the new landscape will look like. One possible amendment to the current structure is to add an additional Designated Player spot for teams willing to use. If a move to add a fourth designated player is tabled during CBA negotiations, MLSEs deep pockets would make supporting such an initiative a no-brainer. A handful of MLS teams with significant financial backing would likely follow suit. A fourth designated player spot would allow Toronto FC to move forward and acquire both Altidore and Giovinco immediately (pending the sale of Defoe). If no additional DP is agreed upon, Toronto FC would have to wait until July. Giovinco is out of contract in July and would be free to join at that time. Gilberto would be a casualty to the Italian strikers arrival. The Brazilian striker struggled in his first MLS season but comes with a more reasonable DP contract that has value in the marketplace. There are many ifs, ands or buts in all this. But wheres theres smoke, theres fire. Toronto FC is more ambitious than ever. Moving on from Defoe was never going to be an easy process. The process becomes much easier to tolerate with Altidore and potentially Giovinco as end reward, making for a dream end scenario for Toronto FC. Gareth Wheeler can be reached at: @WheelerTSN gareth.wheeler@bellmedia.ca Nike Vapormax Damen 2020 . The bout served as the headlining matchup of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva" event, which took place at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. 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Vapormax Damen Sale .C. -- The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday theyve signed free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a two-year contract, helping rebuild a depleted wide receiving corps.TORONTO -- In the moments before the Toronto Raptors took the court for Game 4 in Brooklyn, they huddled in the locker-room and watched footage of their fans gathered back home in Maple Leaf Square. The Raptors went on to win Game 4 and even up the series and say theyve drawn inspiration from the swell of support theyre receiving in their home city. "I told the team, the fans are doing their part, weve got to do our part as a team, as a group of guys to lead the fight on the court, because the fans are behind us 100 per cent and theyre loud and theyre very proud. And they should be," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. The Raptors expect a repeat of Sunday, when a capacity crowd of 2,500 red-clad fans jammed Maple Leaf Square to watch the game on the giant screen outside the Air Canada Centre. Thousands more packed the roads leading up to the ACC in a raucous outdoor celebration similar to the citys playoff party during the Maple Leafs brief run last year. "Oh man, its unbelievable, our fan base," Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said. "It makes you want to just be a part of it. Things that were doing right now and the way the fan base is going out there, we want to go out there and play hard and give them a reason to keep coming back and packing Maple Leaf Square and packing the ACC. "We need our fans, we love our fans. . . We cant wait to see (Wednesday) night, the vibe and the energy were going to get." The series has been a spirited battle even before the first ball was tossed up, thanks to general manager Masai Ujiris now-famous F-bomb. Its been a fierce fight on the court. Casey said Kyle Lowry looked like hed been through a 15-round bout after Game 4, and the coach expects both teams to come out swinging in Game 5 on Wednesday. "Its not going to be all smiles and bubble gum and fruitcakes. . . Its going to be a street fight," Casey said. "Thats the way weve got to come out, with that mentality." The Raptors, said Lowry, were caught on their heels Game 1 of the series. The less-experienced Raptors -- three of the teams starters had never made a playoff appearance -- werent prepared for how physical post-season action would be. They lost that game. They put up a fight in Sundays Game 4 victory in Brooklyn, holding the Nets to just three baskets in a scrappy fourth quarter. But they were forced to battle back from a lackadaisical third quarter, a bad habit the Raptors havent been able to shake all season long.dddddddddddd "Weve got to compete like that for 40-plus (minutes)," Casey said. "The third quarter has been our nemesis. . . thats what we have to remedy, coming out of the locker-room at halftime with that desperate disposition." Despite being the No. 3 seed, the Raptors were considered underdogs in this series based on playoff experience. DeMar DeRozan said theyve played with a chip on their collective shoulder with that underdog mentality all season, so this is nothing new. "We understood coming into this series that people still counted us out, people still doubted us, people said: Brooklyns experience, this, that and the third. . . whatever you want to hear," said DeRozan, who struggled through playoff jitters in Game 1 but has shone for Toronto in the three games since. "Weve been counted out so long, weve got the underdog mentality. I dont think thats going anywhere." Playoff experience was a major theme when this best-of-seven series began. Future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- had played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. None of Torontos starters -- Lowry, DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas -- had ever started in a playoff game. DeRozan, Ross and Valanciunas had never played in the post-season, period. The Raptors say that four games in, experience doesnt mean much anymore. "Its just who wants it more from here on out. Thats what it boils down to now," DeRozan said. Added Casey: "I dont think were as wide-eyed and bushy-tailed as we were in Game 1." Ross remains the one Raptor struggling with the playing on the big stage of the post-season. The athletic sophomore, who poured in 51 points in a game earlier this season, scored zero in Game 4. Casey and the players remain fiercely supportive of the 21-year-old. "Im not going to do anything to crush that young mans confidence or what hes brought to the table thus far," said Casey, pointing out that Ross has done some good things on the defensive end. "And its not about Terrence Ross, its about our entire team," the coach added. "The spotlight should not be on him in any way whatsoever. The reason why we win or lose is not because of what Terrence Ross did or didnt do." ' ' '