Toronto FC’s pre-season camp will be DP-less when it opens Monday afternoon at the Kia Training Ground.

U.S. national teamers Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are in Santiago, Chile for an international friendly. The club's new Italian godsend, Seba Giovinco, remains with Juventus still counting the Brinks truck full of cash TFC delivered him earlier this month.

As for Gilberto, well, the Toronto Sun has learned TFC's high-priced Brazilian striker will be absent from pre-season proceedings as the Reds look to dump his seven-figure deal.

Referencing an informed MLS source on Jan. 18, the Toronto Sun first reportedGilberto would be the odd man out when the Reds reconvened for training camp this week.

Whether Major League Soccer provides its teams with a fourth Designated Player spot in 2015 is inconsequential. Gilberto will be moved for the right price, a well-placed source confirmed to the Sun, adding the Reds have multiple "good offers" for the Brazilian from outside MLS. With transfer windows world wide closing soon, it's also possible Gilberto could end up elsewhere within MLS.

While cap restrictions currently stipulate the Reds must move the Brazilian, news of Gilberto's impending exit will disappoint many who warmed to the hard-working striker last summer.

His stats (7 goals, 5 assists) through 21 starts last season were somewhat underwhelming for a forward making more than $1 million annually.

But the 25-year-old's upside -- his work ethic, speed, strength and his ability to play with his back to goal -- was evident whenever he appeared under former bench boss Ryan Nelsen.

It's why Gilberto still has multiple overseas suitors despite having a mediocre 2014.

Following nine years of turnover – and potentially ending with Gilberto – Toronto FC fans are hopeful their club's "out with the old, in with the new" mantra is coming to an end.

The club's top brass hope general manager Tim Bezbatchenko's ability to lock up the aforementioned three high-priced players in their prime through 2019 will serve as a beacon of long-term stability.

Meanwhile, as camp opens this week, head coach Greg Vanney is hoping Polish import Damien Perquis will help shore up Toronto FC's shaky defence.

The Sun can confirm Perquis arrived in Toronto within the last week amid multiple reports the 30-year-old has already signed with the club. Although it’s unclear if he’ll be in attendance when camp opens Monday, whispers of Perquis joining the fold should be made official in the coming days.

And with that, Toronto FC's core -- Steven Caldwell, Perquis, Bradley, Giovinco and Altidore -- will undoubtedly be among the best in the league.

This league, though, is often won via supporting casts rather than pricey difference-makers.

In other words, you can't have the latter without the former -- something Toronto FC found out the hard way in 2014.

It doesn't matter how many Jermain Defoes or Michael Bradleys a club has if its centre back pairing is among the worst -- or most injury prone -- in MLS.

While the Reds have stolen the off-season headlines for a second consecutive year, it's still very much unclear if the club's back four will indeed be improved -- especially when you consider Vanney's insistence on pressing higher up the field in an effort to control the ebb and flow of games.

Questions remain elsewhere on the field as well.

Unless off-season addition Robbie Findley, who is billed as a striker, is dropped into a wide midfield position, the Reds haven't yet added a proven winger this winter – someone would could give opposing defences something more to think about than Altidore and Giovinco.

Sure, Daniel Lovitz, Jackson, Dominic Oduro and Jonathan Osorio are all options to provide service from the flanks. But none of them are approaching all-star calibre, meaning the Reds still have a few holes to fill if their starting 11 is to compete for a top three spot in the Eastern Conference.

For once, however, there are more positives than there are concerns entering TFC’s ninth season.

The club appears to be in line to start six or seven returning players – a stark contrast after the Reds began the 2014 season in Seattle with seven new players in their starting lineup.

There’s also a genuine feeling that everyone involved in the club – from top to bottom – is finally on board following multiple seasons of discontent among players and management.

Just eight weeks ago the Reds were being ripped to shreds by sports personalities across this city who had just watched TFC tank for an eighth straight campaign.

The hope is this season fans won’t have to put up with some idiot chanting “Let’s go Blue Jays” midway through the summer.