It seems that the deal for Álvaro Rey is not as far along as initially reported. Last week a Spanish report stated that the player was close to securing a transfer from Xerez CD to Toronto FC. Today though, the same site has provided an update on the potential deal saying that things are still in the early stages.

This came from ElDesmarque Jerez on Monday:

Y dos de las cosas que ha confirmado el director deportivo del club son noticias avanzadas en su día por ElDesmarque Jerez. Una de ellas, referente a Álvaro Rey, que podría jugar en la Major League Soccer la próxima temporada. Rondán admite, al menos, que el agente del futbolista ha solicitado permiso para que el jugador viaje a Canadá a probar con el Toronto FC. No obstante, asegura que el club canadiense aún no ha realizado una oferta por el sevillano.

The site may have back peddled a bit on how far along the deal is but this time the report comes straight from Xerez's head coach, Miguel Ángel Rondán. The coach provided updates on several reports surrounding player movements including Rey.

It seems that Toronto has had some form of contact with the player and his agent which has led to Rey requesting permission to come to Toronto for a trial. The step back in the report comes from the fact that the coach claims Toronto FC has yet to make any kind of offer for the player at this point in time.

So the deal is not as close to being done as suggested last week but this time around the report is coming from an even more credible source. It will be interesting to see if Xerez allows Rey to come to Toronto on trial without TFC making any form of offer to the club.

From TFC's perspective getting Rey in for a trial before making any form of offer would be ideal. With the MLS summer transfer window not opening until July 9th it would give TFC time to continue to work on the deal and potentially get a closer look at the player before even being able to make any kind of permanent move for Rey.

We will keep the story updated if anything more develops but it seems that despite things taking a step back from the initial report the deal is still alive, at least for now.