Report: Whitecaps to sign Laryea on loan
Published
Richie Laryea is set to return to Major League Soccer, but it won't be with Toronto FC.
The Canada right-back will sign for Vancouver Whitecaps on loan from Nottingham Forest through the end of 2023, The Athletic's Paul Tenorio and Tom Bogert report.
The deal is pending final paperwork ahead of the league's secondary transfer window closing at midnight Central Time on Thursday. A source tells Tenorio that the Whitecaps will look to sign Laryea on a permanent deal in the offseason and make him a Designated Player.
A Toronto native, Laryea was in his second spell with the Reds after rejoining the team on a yearlong loan from Forest last summer. He made 18 league appearances for TFC this season before the expiry of his loan on June 30.
Laryea was originally taken with the seventh overall selection of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City out of Akron. After two seasons in Florida, Laryea joined his hometown team in 2019 and quickly became a key member of the squad. After three seasons in Toronto, Laryea was sold to Forest in January of 2022. Laryea struggled to make an impact at Forest and made only five appearances in 2022 before the loan back to Toronto.
Internationally, Laryea has been capped 45 times by Canada and was instrumental in the team's qualification for the 2022 World Cup with the CanMNT reaching the quadrennial tournament for the first time since 1986.
Laryea appeared in all three of the team's group-stage games in Qatar.