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Akinola Signs Homegrown Deal with Toronto

By USLSoccer.com Staff, 12/18/17, 11:47AM EST

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Former Toronto FC II forward, U.S. U17 international makes MLS move


Photo courtesy Toronto FC

TORONTO – Toronto FC announced on Monday the club had signed former Toronto FC II forward Ayo Akinola as a Homegrown Player. A member of the U.S. U17 National Team that competed at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup in India, Akinola is the 15th player in TFC history to sign for the first team from the Toronto FC Academy.

“Ayo is the third product of the full player pathway designed at Toronto FC, playing within our academy to playing for TFC II and now the first team,” said Toronto FC Sr. Vice President, Soccer Operations & General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “Ayo is a versatile player that can play as a number nine or out wide. For a player at such a young age, he has a lot of physical attributes that include pace and strength as well as technical ability. Special thanks goes to Greg Vanney and Jason Bent along with our other academy coaches for their role in Ayo’s development.”

The 17-year-old appeared in 10 matches, registering two goals during the 2016 USL regular season for Toronto FC II as a call up from the Toronto FC Senior Academy team. He made his professional debut for Toronto FC II on June 15 against FC Montreal and first start on June 21 against Louisville City FC. Akinola registered his first professional goal and first multi-goal game on July 10 against the Harrisburg City Islanders. He was also named to the USL Team of the Week for Week 16 during the 2016 season. 


Photo courtesy Martin Bazyl / Toronto FC II

Akinola also featured prominently this year for the U.S. U17 National Team, and registered one goal and one assist at the FIFA U17 World Cup in India as the United States reached the tournament’s quarterfinals. Akinola also competed for the U.S. in the CONCACAF U17 Championship in April scoring four times as the side reached the tournament’s final.

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