Toronto FC takes 32 players to training camp in Spain, including top young talent

Charlotte FC defender Adilson Malanda, left, battles Toronto FC forward Hugo Mbongue for the ball in the first half of an MLS soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Toronto FC has taken 32 players to its training camp in Spain, including 24 players currently on a first-team contract.

The camp roster also includes four TFC 2 or academy players, two draft picks and two trialists.

Forward Hugo Mbongue, a former TFC player, and goalkeeper Zakaria Nakhly are the trialists in camp at the Marbella Football Centre.

Mbongue, 21, originally signed in September 2022 as a homegrown player on a contract through 2025 with an option for 2026. Toronto declined that option in October after Mbongue spent the season on loan with Lexington SC of the USL Championship and CPL’s Vancouver FC.

He scored six goals and added two assists in 12 games with Vancouver.

A Canadian youth international, Mbongue joined the Toronto academy in March 2018. He has appeared in 12 MLS regular-season games, with one start and 277 minutes played.

Nakhly, of Moroccan descent, spent time in Belgium in Charleroi’s youth system. The club is likely looking at him as a possible TFC 2 ‘keeper.

The TFC 2/academy players in camp are defender Richard Chukwu, midfielders Antone Bossenberry and Tim Fortier and forward Jahmarie Nolan.

The four are among the top talents in the TFC system.

Chukwu, Bossenberry and Fortier all represented Canada at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar in November, with Chukwu serving as captain

In October, the 17-year-old Bossenberry was included in the Guardian newspaper’s list of the 60 best young football talents in the world. Nolan, a Jamaican youth international, became the youngest player in club history to sign an MLS NEXT Pro contract last March when he joined TFC 2 at the age of 15.

Defender Jackson Gilman and midfielder Fletcher Bank are the draft choices in camp.

Gilman was Toronto’s lone pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft, taken in the second round (36th overall) out of the University of Pittsburgh. He played 75 games over his four seasons at Pitt, starting 74 mostly at centre back, with two goals and seven assists and captained the Panthers for three seasons.

Gilman, 21, was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team in 2022 and made the All-ACC Third Team in both 2023 and 2024. He was with the Philadelphia Union academy from 2016 to 2022 and played with the Philadelphia Union II in 2021 and ’22.

Bank, 21, was taken midfielder in the third round (85th overall) in the 2024 draft but elected to return to Stanford University. He ended up making 72 college appearances, including 70 starts, with 10 goals and 22 assists.

Defender Palmer Bank, Fletcher’s twin brother and Stanford teammate, was taken by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the second round (35th overall) of the 2026 draft.

Toronto departed for Spain on Tuesday but did not release its travelling roster until Thursday. The club is scheduled to return Feb. 15 ahead of its Feb. 21 season opener at FC Dallas.

Toronto FC Training Camp Roster

(x- denotes unsigned SuperDraft selection or trialist, y- denotes Toronto FC II or TFC academy players)

Goalkeepers: Adisa De Rosario, Luka Gavran, x-Zakaria Nakhly, William Yarbrough.

Defenders: y-Richard Chukwu, Kobe Franklin, x-Jackson Gilman, Nicksoen Gomis, Stefan Kapor, Richie Laryea, Zane Monlouis, Adam Pearlman, Matheus Pereira, Lazar Stefanovic, Kosi Thompson, Henry Wingo, Walker Zimmerman.

Midfielders: x-Fletcher Bank, y-Antone Bossenberry, José Cifuentes, Marcus Cimermancic, Alonso Coello, y-Tim Fortier, Malik Henry, Djordje Mihailovic, Jonathan Osorio.

Forward: Theo Corbeanu, Derrick Etienne Jr., Deandre Kerr, x-Hugo Mbongue, y-Jahmarie Nolan, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press