South African forward Cassius Mailula will be reintegrated into the Toronto squad, but he faces a bleak future at the club.

The MLS side has confirmed Mailula will make a return after a move to Algerian side MC Alger fell through. He spent the past season on loan at Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca.

Despite interest from Wydad to keep him on a permanent basis and other clubs coming into the picture, including MC Alger, Toronto’s valuation of the player and that of interested clubs seem to be far apart, which has resulted in Mailula being forced to go back where playing time isn’t guaranteed at all.

“Cassius and (his agent) were entertaining a couple of different opportunities. At the end of the day, there was nothing to them in a way they wanted to secure full-time,” says Toronto general manager Jason Hernandez.

“And on our side, certainly, there was nothing that we received that we felt strongly enough about needing to put the pedal to the floor. So, the player actually is on his way back to rejoin the team, and he’ll continue on with us and reintegrate.” Hernandez said.

Mailula arrived at Toronto in July 2023 from Mamelodi Sundowns and only made eight appearances before being let go on loan.

The 24-year-old was on the fringes of the national team, Bafana Bafana, at the time, and Bafana coach Hugo Broos sounded a warning that it wasn’t the right time for him to make the move.

“I’m afraid that Mailula does not have a good agent. When you let him go to Toronto, where you know they are having two Italian internationals, (Lorenzo) Insigne is there, and there is a Canadian international, (Deandre) Kerr.

“You let go of a young player like this who has 15 games of experience in the PSL; that is not the right choice,” said Broos in October 2023.

Whether Mailula’s situation would change remains to be seen.