Michael Bradley reaffirms Jermaine Defoe’s commitment to Toronto FC

The past week around Toronto FC has been crazy, with a head coach being fired and rumors surrounding one of the marquee signings from earlier this year heading back to Europe. Needless to say commitment to the cause has been a topic of discussion for fans of the Reds and MLS in general.

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However, the biggest of those offseason signings was USMNT midfielder Michael Bradley and following the upheaval of the past week one could be forgiven if he had second thoughts about what was happening around Toronto FC.

That apparently is the furthest thing from the truth though, as Bradley spoke about the past week to MLSSoccer.com’s Armen Bedakian. In that talk Bradley made it very clear he is committed to the cause:

"“When I came in January and sat at the press conference and told people I was excited for the challenge of coming to Toronto, those might have been just words to you guys but it was exactly what I meant,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be easy, and it hasn’t been. But we’re going to continue to make progress. It doesn’t mean there are not ups and downs along the way because it wouldn’t be realistic and it wouldn’t be life if there weren’t.“"

Bradley also made it clear that despite multiple English Premier League teams looking to buy Jermaine Defoe as the transfer window closed on Monday, Defoe is committed to the cause for Toronto FC as well.

“The second part is that we only want guys at this club who are committed to be here, who’s hearts are in it,” Bradley added. “Jermain has been a guy, from day one, has shown a desire and a real motivation to not only being here but helping this team win.”

Defoe had a productive start to his time with Toronto FC, as he’s scored 11 goals in 16 games played (15 starts) for the Reds. However, he hasn’t scored since July 16 and he’s been out of form as of late, missing out as an unused sub in five of the last seven games.

Whether Defoe stays in the winter transfer window remains a big question, especially given that Toronto FC already rejected multiple bids for his services.

It’s just the latest saga in the mess that has become Toronto FC front office.