Toronto FC GM lifts lid on trade that sent Marshall-Rutty to Montreal
Published
TORONTO - Six months after shipping talented wingback/winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to rival CF Montreal, Toronto FC GM Jason Hernandez opened up on the why behind the trade, warts and all.
"Institutional failure" was his candid explanation in a Thursday night reception for Toronto season ticket-holders.
Now 20, Marshall-Rutty was 15 when he signed a homegrown player contract in January 2020, becoming the youngest player in Toronto franchise history to sign for the first team.
While he went on to make 83 appearances across all competitions for Toronto, he never really found a home in the lineup.
So last August, Toronto shipped him to Montreal in exchange for up to US$1.3 million in general allocation money, plus a sell-on percentage in the event of a future permanent transfer.
“We understand Jahkeele’s desire for more guaranteed playing time, and with our depth at his position with our current roster, it is difficult for us to deliver that," Hernandez said at the time.
On Thursday, the GM offered more details on the circumstances of the trade, suggesting the franchise could have done more to prepare Marshall-Rutty by offering him more playing time via a loan or TFC 2.
"The world we lived in, the first-team manager was the driver. And the first-team manager's job is to win games," said Hernandez.
Playing time disappeared when former coach John Herdman converted Italian star Federico Bernardeschi to a wingback. The other wingback was the talismanic Richie Laryea, like Bernardeschi on a designated player contract.
With Marshall-Rutty's Toronto contract nearing an end, the situation came to a head, Hernandez related.
"And so you get to the point now where you have a young player that you've backed and you've brought through and now he's blocked … So the player looks at us in the summer and goes 'What's the plan, man? In six months I'm going to be thinking about where I'm going to pre-sign and go for free. I'm not re-signing here. Why would I re-sign here? You have two guys you've invested massive money in to put in my position. How can I re-sign here?'"
Given that, Hernandez looked to make something out of the situation rather than lose the player for nothing. And the trade to Montreal followed.
"Very simply, I would argue, an institutional failure that we made previously to not invest in the kid, to not have a plan for the kid, to not back the kid — if we believed in him and that's what we thought."
Given that, it will be interesting to see how Hernandez and TFC prepare the likes of 18-year-old defender Lazar Stefanovic and 20-year-old midfielder Markus Cimermancic, both of whom have impressed at training camp.
Ironically new coach Robin Fraser has said he plans to move Bernardeschi to a more forward role this season, to make better use of his attacking skills.
During the franchise's glory years, it was hard for Toronto's young talent to break into a talented veteran lineup. And when the bottom fell out — the club has missed the playoffs the last four years — a string of managers was more interested in reviving the patient than foster youth.
So many left the club, with some like Marshall-Rutty (Montreal) and Jayden Nelson (sold to Norway's Rosenborg in February 2023 and now a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps) wearing the colours of a Canadian MLS rival.
"The reality is there's too many of these types of players that are within our ecosystem, within our environment, that don't always reach the highest level within our first team," said Hernandez.
"We want to be a place where we can get the talent within our system, provide the natural opportunities, provide them with a pathway, help us win games and help them reach the highest levels," he added.
Hernandez retired as a Toronto player in April 2019, moving into the front office as the club's first manager of player engagement. He was promoted to assistant general manager in 2021 and became GM in June 2023.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025