Barrett Signs TFC Extension

Toronto FC has signed forward Chad Barrett to a four-year extension, club officials announced Wednesday. Barrett was brought in by Toronto on July 27th as part of the deal that sent Brian McBride's rights to the Chicago Fire; Toronto also received a 2009 first-round draft pick and conditional future considerations in the trade.

"We are very happy to get this deal finished and get Chad in here for another four years," said TFC manager and director of soccer Mo Johnston. "There were a number of other clubs that were interested in Chad, but we're pleased to say that he wants to be a member of this team for many years to come and we're delighted by that."

Barrett, 23, is a four-year veteran of Major League Soccer, having spent his first three-and-a-half seasons with the Fire. He has accumulated 20 goals and 11 assists in 87 regular season games, and also contributed a playoff goal in 2007. Since moving to Toronto, Barrett has scored twice in five games (all starts), including a Sierra Mist Goal of the Week winning strike in TFC's 1-0 away victory over the Colorado Rapids, which saw Barrett curl a free kick over the defending wall and into the top corner of the net.

"I said when I came here from Chicago that this would be a fresh start for me," said Barrett. "I'm excited about staying here, working with the coaching staff, winning more games, and hopefully scoring a lot more goals. I love the city, and my teammates are great so I'm pretty happy about everything."

Here's video of Barrett's phenomenal strike from a few weeks ago (you can see it better in the replays):