Toronto FC unveil Jozy Altidore

The next chapter of Toronto FC's striker saga is officially underway as the club unveiled Jozy Altidore at a press conference Friday.

Speaking alongside general manager Tim Bezbatchenko and manager Greg Vanney, the 25-year-old American forward, who arrives in Toronto as a Designated Player in a swap deal with Sunderland for Jermain Defoe, kept his words to a minimum but expressed great excitement at joining his new club.

"I look forward to this challenge," Altidore said. "I'm committed long-term to making this franchise something special."

Altidore subsequently explained that compatriot Michael Bradley, who he'll be partnering with at Toronto, played a massive role in securing the deal.

"Mikey was huge, man," Altidore said. "We started in the youth national team together - 16, 17 years old - and every level that we ascended to, we did it together. We were always close and we were always pushing each other from a young age so he was huge in this whole thing.

"Obviously we first talked about it when he joined here in the summer. It was a joke a bit, but we kept in contact and we kept talking about it and I'm so happy that somebody like him is at this organization because I know right away that the mentality will be wanting to build a winner, so he was huge in that and I look forward to playing with him."

Curiously, video from the ESPN series "Inside: U.S. Soccer's March to Brazil," which documented the U.S. Men's National Team's preparation ahead of the World Cup, included a brief segment where Bradley jokingly attempted to recruit Altidore to Toronto.

Also part of the press conference was an explanation from Bezbatchenko regarding the reasons behind the deal, which obviously stems from the fact that things didn't exactly work out with Defoe.

"Our vision over the past 18 months has been to establish Toronto FC's international presence, and while just us for one year, Jermain Defoe played an important role in helping us achieve that goal," Bezbatchenko said. 

"We appreciate the fact that he worked very closely with us through this process, and while he had a number of options, he ultimately agreed to a deal that would be in the best interests of both the player and TFC. He wanted to ensure that TFC and its fans will benefit from this transfer, and we have.

"Jozy has chosen to return to MLS, and adding a player of Jozy Altidore's pedigree is an important addition for our club."

Toronto supporters will inevitably be hoping that Altidore can replicate his numbers from AZ Alkmaar at BMO Field, as opposed to his lack of goal-scoring exploits at Sunderland, where he notched only one goal through 34 matches.