Canadian striker Tosaint Ricketts signs with defending Lithuanian champion

Former Toronto FC striker Tosaint Ricketts has signed with Lithuania champion FK Suduva.

Toronto opted not to exercise it option to keep Ricketts in November. The 31-year-old Canadian international made 51 MLS appearances (17 starts) in Major League Soccer with 13 goals and one assists.

Behind star forwards Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore on the TFC depth chart, the speedy Ricketts’s role was largely as an impact substitute.

Based in Marijampole, Lithuania, FK Suduva plays in the Lithuanian top division, the A Lyga.

“With the new year, comes a new challenge,” Ricketts wrote in a social media posting. “A new opportunity. It is not easy leaving an incredible city like Toronto, a city that welcomed me as one of their own.”

The Edmonton native, who won the MLS Cup with TFC in 2017, thanked MLS, Toronto FC and its owner MLSE for “the opportunity to be part of one of the most special teams and seasons any of us could of asked for.”

He also thanked the Toronto fans, calling them the best in MLS.

“You were the reason I gave everything I had on that pitch when given the opportunity. Most of all I will miss playing for you.”

Ricketts previously played for Finland’s Myllykosken Pallo -47, Romania’s Politehnica Timisoara, Norway’s Valerenga Fotball and Sandnes Ulf, Israel’s Hapoel Haifa and Turkey’s Bucaspor and Boluspor.