Former Napoli and Juventus stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernadeschi conspired together with other players in a bid get former Swansea City manager Bob Bradley sacked by Toronto FC, according to reports.
The Major League Soccer club is a mess on and off the field, losing four of their past six games with a fractured dressing room that includes Insigne and Bernadeschi – the team's top earners.
In the wake of Saturday's last-gasp defeat to Austin FC, a group of veteran players led by the Italian duo joined up on a conference call on a day off in an attempt to get head coach and sporting director Bradley – manager of the United States men's national team from 2006-11 – fired, according to The Athletic.
“I think maybe we need to change something," Bernadeschi told reporters immediately after the defeat, which leaves the Canadians languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from 14 games.
The Italian-led bid to oust Bradley failed, with the 65-year-old in charge for Saturday's clash with Wayne Rooney's DC United. Instead, 29-year-old Bernadeschi – a 39-cap Italy international who was part of their victorious Euro 2020 squad – is the man who has lost his place, being exiled from the squad in a "coach's decision" for his post-game comments and conduct behind the scenes.
Insigne, 31, and Bernadeschi are the second and fourth-highest-paid players in the MLS, earning $7.5million and $6.29m per year respectively. But the wingers have failed to deliver value for money since they joined Toronto last summer, combining for just four goals so far this season, with Insigne affected by injuries.
It is claimed Insigne is an isolated figure at the club due to his limited command of English, communicating mainly in Italian and Spanish, while Bernadeschi has been seen as disruptive, clashing with Bradley and his son, Michael Bradley, who had a brief stint with Aston Villa in 2011 and is the team's captain.
Bradley Sr's training methods have been a bone of contention. Bernadeschi said on Saturday: "We don’t have a construction in the game. When the player has the ball, we don’t know how to pass the ball. “This is the real problem because we don’t train about that."
To make matters worse, it is understood Insigne and Bernadeschi have a strained relationship, too. The latter has also been criticised by his teammates for vaping at the team facility.
Toronto were one of the MLS' strongest teams for a sustained period, making the MLS Cup final three times from 2016-19, but they have gradually become disjointed on and off the field, with huge – and expensive – problems for Bradley and the club to solve.
