Hassli On The Move?

Toronto FC striker Eric Hassli seems to be on his way to Dallas. The news came in a rather strange way, FC Dallas took to its official Twitter on Friday to say it is in talks with Toronto FC “and close to finalizing a deal to bring Eric Hassli to Dallas.”

Not surprisingly Toronto FC declined to comment on the tweet.  Whether or not the early twitter leak will affect any possible deal from being consummated remains to be seen.  Moving Hassli would make sense for several reasons though.  Toronto is looking for a way to relieve some salary cap flexibility as Hassli, Torsten Frings,Danny Koevermans, and  defenders Darren O’Dea and Richard Eckersley, take up a large chunk of  the cap.  “It’s hard to have the percentage of your cap tied up in five players that we had and still put an effective team on the field,” Toronto president and GM Kevin Payne told reporters Thursday

After Dallas lost 22-year-old Brek Shea to English Premier League side Stoke City this week for a reported 2.5 million pounds  there has been a gaping hole in their line-up.  The acquisition of Hassili may make sence for both sides.

Toronto acquired Hassli, a French striker, from the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for a first-round  pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and an international spot through 2013 back in July 2012.  There have been rumblings for a few weeks now that Hassli is looking to force his way out of Toronto despite signing a new DP deal with the club after the end of the 2012 season.  It appears the hiring of a new club president and the changes in the coaching staff  have left the forward unhappy. There has also been talk that his wife has very serious geographic concerns, and is not happy with Toronto.

Any final word on a deal one way or the other should be made public by the end of the weekend