Source: Toronto FC close to acquiring playmaker Djordje Mihailovic from Colorado

TORONTO — Toronto FC is close to acquiring attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic from the Colorado Rapids in a cash deal, according to a source.

The transfer is not yet finalized, according to the source granted anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the negotiations.

TFC, without a designated player since buying out the contracts of Italians Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi in early July, has been looking for some star power.

And Toronto, which sits 12th in the Eastern Conference at 5-13-6, needs help in attack.

With 25 goals in 24 games, it ranks 26th in the league on offence. Canadian international Theo Corbeanu leads the team with five goals while Honduran Deybi Flores, a defensive-minded midfielder, tops the team with two assists.

The 26-year-old Mihailovic has nine goals and seven assists in 24 regular-season outings for Colorado this season. He is making $1.775 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) with the Rapids this season, a bargain compared to the $15.4 million Toronto was paying Insigne and the $6.295 million Bernardeschi was earning.

Toronto marks the fifth career team for Mihailovic and his second in Canada.

He spent the 2021 and ’22 seasons with CF Montreal, playing 61 regular-season games, including 57 starts. In 2021, he recorded 16 assists, erasing the previous club record of 13 set by Ignacio Piatti in 2018.

Montreal had acquired Mihailovic from the Chicago Fire in exchange for $800,000 in general allocation money. Signed as a homegrown player from the Fire academy in January 2017, he played 73 regular-season games for the Fire, including 45 starts, with seven goals and 15 assists.

After the 2022 MLS season, Mihailovic joined AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. He had two goals and two assists in 36 appearances across all competitions for the Dutch side before leaving to join Colorado in January 2024, signing on as a designated player on a four-year contract through 2027 with a club option through 2028.

Mihailovic has one goal in 11 appearances for the U.S., scoring against Panama in a January 2019 friendly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2025.