Josh Sargent has completed a permanent transfer from Norwich City to Toronto FC, with the move finalised on 27 February 2026. The fee was widely reported at around £15.5m, rising to more than £20m with add-ons - figures that convert to roughly $22m and up to $27m - putting it among the largest fees an MLS club has ever paid for an incoming player. Sargent has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Toronto that runs through to June 2031 and joins as a Designated Player.
Toronto FC general manager Jason Hernandez made clear the club see Sargent as a foundational signing rather than a marquee flourish. He brings high-level experience in some of the strongest leagues in the world and international pedigree at just 26 years old, Hernandez said, adding that Sargent is a proven goalscorer with a winning mentality. The club also moved to secure St. Louis City's right of first refusal on the player as part of the wider deal, underlining how determined Toronto were to get the transfer done.
For Norwich, this is a substantial fee for a player who was, by his own admission, unhappy for large parts of the second half of the season. The move turned sour in January, when Sargent made himself unavailable for an FA Cup tie against Walsall following Toronto's interest. A reportedly heated meeting with manager Philippe Clement and sporting director Ben Knapper followed, and Sargent was left out of the first-team picture entirely and sent to train with the club's under-21 squad. He did not play for Norwich again before the deal went through. Reflecting on the exit, Sargent said it was unfortunate how things had worked out, adding that there were two sides to every story.
In terms of output, Sargent's numbers at Norwich this season read as modest for a player commanding such a fee - three goals and an assist in his Championship appearances, a rate of 0.48 goals per 90 minutes. That reflects a campaign disrupted by the very saga that ended in this move, with his final weeks at Carrow Road spent frozen out of the squad rather than playing football. Norwich coped well with the disruption: under Clement, who took charge in November, they climbed clear of the relegation zone and into the top half of the Championship, eventually finishing ninth, just eight points off the play-offs.
Sargent should slot straight into Toronto's front line as the focal point of their attack. He gives the club a proven target man with a track record in two of England's top divisions and at international level with the United States, and at 26 he arrives in what should be his peak years rather than as a late-career marquee addition. Personal factors played a part in the move too - Sargent has spoken of the arrival of his third child in December and the presence of USMNT teammates Djordje Mihailovic and Walker Zimmerman at the club as reasons the switch appealed to him.