There’s a history of business done between Toronto FC and CF Montréal and there’s about to be a new page written in that book.
Toronto FC have traded midfielder Matty Longstaff to CF Montréal in exchange for forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint and up to $275,000 in General Allocation Money – $225,000 to be spent this year and an additional $50,000 in conditional 2026 GAM, but it is tied to Longstaff’s CFM roster status next year.
The news came as a surprise to TFC supporters Wednesday morning when Montréal reporter Maxime Truman broke the story.
Longstaff joined Toronto FC on February 29 2024, signing a two-year contract with an option for 2026, following his release from Newcastle United, where an ACL injury had hampered his career trajectory. John Herdman saw the former Magpie as a low risk-high reward prospect.
“We would like to thank Matty for his contributions over the past year and a half at Toronto FC,” said TFC general manager Jason Hernandez in a club statement. “Matty arrived in Toronto in hopes of reestablishing himself in first-team football after a lengthy injury. We are grateful to Matty for his relentless effort whenever selected on the pitch and his top professionalism at our club during his time. We wish him the best in his next endeavour and look forward to crossing paths again soon.”
The 25-year-old quickly made an impact in MLS. He scored his first goal for Toronto on 5 May 2024 against FC Dallas. Over the 2024 and part of the 2025 seasons, he made 49 appearances and netted 2 goals.
In Vilsaint, TFC are getting a player that has shown flashes of brilliances but wasn’t given enough opportunities in Marco Donadel’s system. In 2025, he has made just 11 MLS appearances, with zero goals in just 262 minutes of action.
“We are happy to welcome Jules-Anthony to Toronto and the Toronto FC family,” said Hernandez in the same statement. “He is a young and promising striker who will add depth to our roster, and we look forward to working with Jules.”
A CanMNT preliminary roster call-up, the uncapped attacker joined CF Montréal in February 2023, arriving from the Royal Antwerp reserve side in Belgium. He signed a two-year deal (2023–24) with options extending through 2026. A Montreal native with dual Canadian–Haitian citizenship, Vilsaint had previously honed his skills at Panellinios Montréal FC before moving to Europe via Lille’s academy and then Antwerp.
Vilsaint made his MLS debut on May 31, 2023, against D.C. United and notched his first goal for the club on September 2, 2023, scoring in a 4–2 defeat to the Columbus Crew.
Into 2024, his contributions increased: he featured in 19 league matches, adding two more goals to his tally. Additionally, he notched three MLS goals across all competitions in 2024, placing him among the club’s joint top scorers for the season.
What do you think of the latest Toronto FC front office move?