Veteran defender Damien Perquis, whose playing time had dwindled in recent weeks, has left Toronto FC.Adam Hunger/The Associated Press
Toronto FC will get partial salary cap relief in parting ways with big-ticket defender Damien Perquis.
The French-born Polish international's US$427,500 salary plus the emergence of younger, cheaper talent appear to have opened the door to Perquis' departure midway through his second season with the MLS club.
At the midway point of the MLS season, Toronto will not to have cover the full amount of Perquis' salary, although it will absorb the cost of the settlement tied into the mutual decision to terminate his contract
"We get some (cap relief)," said Toronto GM Tim Bezbatchenko, who declined to offer further details.
The 32-year-old Perquis started nine of the first 10 matches this season, playing 806 minutes, usually alongside veteran Drew Moor. He started just two of the next seven, playing 180 minutes as a knee injury and competition from others kept him out.
Eriq Zavaleta, who is nine years younger and a lot more affordable at $140,600 this season, has started four of the last six matches at centre back and looked good.
Bezbatchenko called it a "natural evolution of a roster."
"You need competition at all positions and I know our centre back position is one of our deepest areas. Obviously a little bit of a contrast from last year."
Perquis had the fourth-highest salary on TFC's books this season, behind only designated players Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore. Toronto also had a surfeit of centre backs with Perquis, Moor, Zavaleta, Josh Williams, Nick Hagglund and Clement Simonin on its 26-man roster.
Perquis's departure was swift. After starting against Seattle on July 2, he was an unused substitute last Saturday against Chicago.
That led to a meeting with Bezbatchenko, who confirmed that Perquis wasn't happy at not starting and was also missing his family back home.
"It seemed to be the best thing for both parties," the GM said Wednesday of the decision to part ways.
Perquis trained Monday. After practice, coach Greg Vanney essentially said there was no need to make changes to a backline that was working well as is.
"Damien's healthy but the combination of Eriq and Drew with Ben (Cheyrou) in front of them I think it's five games and they have four shutouts ... I think you reward guys when they're playing well."
"It doesn't mean anything for Damien, it doesn't mean he's playing poorly," Vanney added. "It's just that that group of players has been doing a very good job and we'll ride them out. As long as they keep doing a great job, they're the guys in my opinion."
Perquis left Real Betis in Spain after seeing his playing time dwindle under a new coach. That produced another mutual parting of the ways and Perquis got a call from Jerome Meary, who helps recruit players for MLS.
Perquis made 38 appearances for Toronto in all competitions with two goals and two assists.
Toronto's roster now stands at 25, meaning it has three vacancies.
"We've got to be smart about it," Bezbatchenko said of making additions. We're not just going to add bodies because we need more bodies."
Toronto will get relief when captain Michael Bradley, Clint Irwin, Jozy Altidore, Will Johnson, Daniel Lovitz and Ashtone Morgan return from injury.
TFC is also taking a long look at Canadian international attacker Tosaint Ricketts who is training with the team.
"We're just working with the league and with him to see if there's something we can do," Bezbatchenko said.
MLS teams are working with a salary budget of $3,660,000 this season. The maximum budget charge for one player is $457,500 — any cost above that for designated players does not register — and as few as 18 players can count under the cap thanks to the league's convoluted salary rules.
Teams can also use allocation money to pay down salaries to fit under the cap.