TORONTO - Toronto FC continued its roster makeover Tuesday, dealing striker Maicon Santos to FC Dallas for midfielder Eric Avila.
"We are very happy to add Eric Avila to our club, he is an attacking midfielder that fits into our immediate and long-term plans," Toronto FC coach Aron Winter said in a statement. "All of the trades that we have made in the last few weeks have been to acquire players who fulfil a specific need for our team or fit into our style of play philosophy."
Winter has certainly been busy changing the face of Toronto FC in recent months.
The club signed designated players Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans at the end of June.
Toronto also made three deals over a span of two days last month, acquiring defender Andy Iro and midfielder Leandre Griffit from the Columbus Crew for midfielder Tony Tchani. TFC also obtained Canadian international midfielder Terry Dunfield from Vancouver and Jamaican international midfielder-forward Ryan Johnson from San Jose.
Winter also traded Toronto native and former captain Dwayne De Rosario to New York in April.
Toronto (3-11-10) is currently second-last in the Eastern Conference standings with 19 points, one ahead of Chicago.
Toronto was in action Tuesday night, holding a 2-1 aggregate lead in CONCACAF Champions League plays against Nicaraguan side Real Estreli.
Santos, 27, was in his second season with Toronto FC and led the team with six goals over 15 games in 2011. The Brazilian scored 10 goals in 32 games after joining the team in July 2010 from Chivas USA, but he fell out of favour in recent weeks with the influx of new talent in Toronto.
"We are very excited that Maicon Santos is joining FC Dallas," FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said in a release. "He is an established player in MLS.
"He's got great size. He is the leading scorer for Toronto FC with six goals. Given the way we play and the type of ball movement we get, I believe he will contribute immediately to the team."
Avila, 23, was drafted in the second round (19th overall) in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas.
He appeared in 63 games over four seasons with the team. Avila recorded one goal and two assists in 13 games this year.
"For us, it was very difficult to see Eric Avila leave," Hyndman said. "We are going to miss him. He is a great team player. He has scored some very important goals for FC Dallas. He has been a part of this team for almost four years. He has some very good friends and coaches here in Dallas.
"The problem was he was not getting enough time here and I think Toronto FC really wanted Avila to be a part of their team, which encouraged us to make a trade."
