Toronto FC will be without its captain to start the 2020 MLS season.
According to multiple reports, Michael Bradley will undergo ankle surgery in New York City on Tuesday that will require up to four months of recovery time. The news of Bradley's injury came days after TFC opened preseason training camp, although the injury was reportedly sustained during Toronto's 3-1 MLS Cup loss to the Seattle Sounders on Nov. 10.
"In Michael's case, we are going to be careful and cautious about this," TFC general manager Ali Curtis told reporters on Monday. "But we're confident that once he has the surgery that he'll be able to return to play. It'll take probably approximately four months. Now that could be shorter or it could be lengthier depending on how we manage that process."
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Should the recovery process end up taking as long as the club expects, it'll be the longest TFC will be without Bradley on the field since he signed with the team ahead of the 2014 season. The American midfielder has appeared in 163 regular-season MLS matches for Toronto, with all but one of those being starts. In total, the 32-year-old has played 200 times in all for TFC, as he hit the double-century mark in the 2019 championship match.
Originally having joined Toronto in a blockbuster six-year, $39 million deal, Bradley pledged his future to TFC by signing a new, three-year contract in December.