TORONTO -- With American star Michael Bradley headed to the World Cup, Toronto FC has bolstered its midfield depth by acquiring Collen Warner from Montreal.
Canadian international midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran goes to Montreal along with an with an undisclosed amount of allocation money.
"We felt the need to acquire an experienced MLS central midfielder like Collen Warner was necessary as we approach the break, coupled with the loss of Michael to the U.S. national team," Toronto FC GM Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement Friday. "Collen provides a different look in the midfield for us and to be successful in this league you need to be multi-dimensional. Collen is someone we strongly admire as a player and who believe can help us achieve our goals."
A holding midfielder, the 25-year-old American has made 92 appearances for the Impact and Real Salt Lake. Warner has started all nine of Montreal's MLS games this season but was sent off for handball last time out in a 3-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City.
"We'd like to thank Collen for everything he did both on and off the field during his time with the Impact and we wish him well moving forward," Impact head coach Frank Klopas said in a statement. "We are very pleased to be able to add Issey Nakajima-Farran to our roster. He is a player whose qualities will fit well within our group and style of play. We feel his experience with both the national team and abroad will benefit our team."
Impact owner Joey Saputo has promised changes to his 1-5-3 team.
Nakajima-Farran, 30, has two goals in five games since signing with Toronto. He had been with the camp since training camp but did not sign until late March.
Born in Calgary to a Japanese mother and a British-Canadian father (who was born in Rhodesia), he moved to Tokyo when he was three and London when he was 10. He spent his teenage years in the British capital, playing in the Crystal Palace youth system before heading to Japan to begin his pro soccer career.
He went on to play in Singapore, Denmark, Australia and Cyprus.
