Toronto FC in the mix to sign out-of-contract Northern Ireland international

Per reports from Scotland, Toronto FC are in the race to sign St. Mirren's Caolan Boyd-Munce.

After Wednesday's loss to FC Cincinnati, Toronto FC has seven losses on its record in just 13 matches. The club is on its way to having the season written off once again before we even reach the summer.

If the club wants to avoid the basement once again, it will need to have a fairly proactive summer in the transfer market, something it didn't capitalize on in the winter. While the club did bring in multiple players on loan, the only permanent transfer that doesn't include players no longer at the club (Thiago Andrade) or players graduating from TFC II is Zane Monlouis.

Even if we want to hype up the loans of Theo Corbeanu, Maxime Dominguez, and Ola Brynhildsen, none of the three have been world beaters yet at Toronto, even if they have the potential to be.

The club is already being linked to a permanent transfer in the summer window, though. Scott Burns of Record Sport in Scotland suggests Toronto FC has St. Mirren's Caolan Boyd-Munce on their radar.

The soon-to-be-out-of-contract midfielder has spent the last three seasons in the Scottish Premiership, having joined St. Mirren on a transfer from Championship club Middlesbrough. St. Mirren manager Stephen Robinson confirmed that Caolan had already rejected a contract extension with the club and is exploring his options.

Born in Belfast, Boyd-Munce came through the academy ranks of Glentoran before making the move across the Irish Sea to Birmingham City. The 25-year-old central midfielder has two senior caps to date with Northern Ireland, making his debut against Spain on June 8th, 2024.

According to WhoScored, Boyd-Munce's strengths are his long shots, through balls and concentration. In the midfield, he is typically deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, with some matches played as a defensive midfielder as well. This season, he has recorded six goal contributions, five of those coming from assists.

Should Toronto FC push for his signature this summer, they are likely to face competition from an array of English clubs. Record Sport reports suggest that Blackpool and Leyton Orient, the latter of which could play in the Championship next season, are interested in signing the player.

Toronto's midfield is by no means perfect—it is far from it—but the club does have a lot of central midfielders at the moment. Whether this is a situation with smoke but no fire remains to be seen, but it is an intriguing link nonetheless.