The man behind the introduction of a Canadian team into English rugby league next season has revealed a number of the club’s ambitious targets that include not only getting into Super League within five years but one day winning the Grand Final.

When Eric Perez – the chief executive of Toronto Wolfpack, who will enter the English third tier, League 1, next year – speaks it is hard not to listen. Forget selling ice to the Inuit, Perez would make a decent fist out of selling maple syrup to the Mounties.

Work has been continuing behind the scenes since the formation of the Wolfpack was confirmed by the Rugby Football League earlier this year. Perez, a Toronto native who fell in love with rugby league on a visit to Europe several years ago, said he has one simple goal for the club: reaching the top as quickly as possible.

“I’m not going to mince my words: I would love to be in the stands watching Paul Rowley [the coach] lead us out at Old Trafford: that would be fantastic,” he said. “Is it a pipe dream? You never know, just ask Leicester City. The end goal is to win silverware and bring glory to Toronto, and put it on the map as a rugby league city.”

Scepticism surrounding the idea of introducing a transatlantic team into the English league concerned what interest Canadians would have in a sport that to them is relatively unknown. Perez is optimistic of drawing crowds in the Wolfpack’s inaugural year that will eclipse a number of Super League sides’ attendances after an encouraging response from the local community.

“I’d be happy if we had 4,000 watching us on a regular basis without doubt, we’ve got around that many signed up on a members list and season tickets go on sale next week,” Perez said. “But I think we will be aiming to get closer to 9,000 – maybe even 10,000, which would be a phenomenal achievement.

“The response has been so overwhelming from the people of Toronto that I think we’ll be close to, if not completely sold out, every single match we play. I truly believe it’s a sport that speaks to the Canadian psyche.”

The Wolfpack will be the only side to have a broadcast deal to show all their games live, with talks continuing to show their matches on both sides of the Atlantic.

A large portion of the squad will come from the UK and Australia – with a number of deals set to be announced shortly – but the club will also sign a North American contingent from a number of trials to be held over the summer.

He said: “We’ve already had 100-plus applicants, and we’ll be doing open trials across North America: Vancouver, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal are just some of the places we’re going. We’ll pick 20 to 30 of the best guys from there to make the final tryouts.”

Yet despite such lofty ambitions, Perez is realistic about their immediate challenge: promotion out of the third tier in 2017. “We’re not stupid about all this, we understand we’re playing against teams with a whole heap of history and pedigree, and it’s going to be very tough to get out of the league we’re going into,” Perez said.

“However, we’re in it to win it. It would be fantastic to be in Super League within five years – it’s an achievable goal in my opinion.”