The Sebastian Giovinco era has ended. With Toronto FC agreeing to a fee between $2 and $3 million from Saudi club Al-Hilal FC to sell Giovinco to the Middle East, the former MVP’s reign as (arguably) the league’s best player is over. Toronto move forward with a new haul of money and questions about the future—Jozy Altidore’s contract year looms and new general manager Ali Curtis could revamp a roster that disappointed mightily for most of 2018.

As TFC debate these new existential questions, Giovinco’s influence will not be lost. He was one of the first players to come to MLS from Europe in his prime, signing a lucrative contract with Toronto and proving that MLS is a valid destination for players at his level. Before Miguel Almiron blazed a path for young South Americans, Giovinco was the European pioneer.

Giovinco came to symbolize Toronto’s ambition. A club that had been a laughingstock since its 2007 founding spent significant cash on prime Americans Michael Bradley and Altidore and followed it, prior to the 2015 campaign, with Giovinco, who was MLS’s highest-paid player by guaranteed compensation at his departure. TFC proved that ambition is not restricted to the league’s biggest markets, and that a willingness to thoughtfully spend some cash can carry a team a long way.

They reaped the benefits immediately. Giovinco set an MLS record for combined goals and assists in his magnificent 2015 debut season, winning the Golden Boot with 22 goals and adding 16 assists. He won the Landon Donovan MVP and the Newcomer of the Year award, forming an unstoppable striking pair with Altidore. 

The Atomic Ant, listed at 5-foot-4, quickly became the most intense player in the league. His infamous eye tattoo was common sight on MLS broadcasts as he squirmed into every gap possible and lashed into assistant referees when they raised the flag for offside. Giovinco ripped the ball on net at every opportunity, becoming by far the highest-volume shooter in the league and producing a healthy dose of golazos.

Every time Giovinco found himself on the ball, he was a threat to zig-zag across the final third until he had a sliver of space to unleash a howitzer on goal or conjure some through-ball no one else had the vision to foresee. 

Toronto, from 2015 on, made their living setting up shop in the final third and working like an NHL team on the power-play. Everyone got involved, with intricate movements and passes and runs. Fullbacks/wingbacks Justin Morrow and Steven Beitashour became the top-scoring defenders in the league. The central midfield rotated and swarmed around Seba, who combined with the soft-footed Altidore and set an unofficial record for most give-and-gos in the 18-yard box. They drew a ton of penalties, which Giovinco notoriously struggled to finish.

It was a beautiful, flexible system, and when Spaniard Victor Vazquez arrived before 2017, he lifted TFC to god-tier mode. Toronto had already hosted MLS Cup and dominated Seattle only to lose on penalties. With Vazquez centered behind Jozy and Seba in a formation that alternated between a 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 diamond, TFC added a third elite creator and scorer to their power play. Their depth, centered on younger domestic products and shrewd acquisitions, became the best in the league. 

2017 Toronto FC are the best MLS team ever. They won the Supporters’ Shield, the Canadian Championship (thrillingly) and exacted revenge on the Sounders in MLS Cup, this time in even more dominant fashion.

Giovinco dealt with injuries in 2017, but that was the year he became one of the very best free-kick takers in the world. There was a time, at the peak of his set-piece mastery, that he was the best free-kick scorer in the universe. Lionel Messi ended Giovinco’s set-piece reign, but free kicks were often the most beautiful part of Seba’s MLS dominance. 

TFC’s 2018 Concacaf Champions League journey was, in hindsight, the final run for one of MLS’s most impressive dynasties. Toronto bested a ridiculously good Tigres team in the quarterfinals, with a 73rd-minute second leg Giovinco goal in Monterrey sealing a club-defining result. In the semifinals, they coasted at home in the first leg against Club America, winning 3-1, before surviving at the Estadio Azteca with a 4-2 aggregate win. 

They lost the final to Chivas on penalties despite an amazing 2-1 comeback road win the second leg. TFC came within a coin flip of winning the competition most commonly cited as an example of MLS’s inferiority.

Toronto, of course, missed the postseason after the CCL run and decided that the 32-year-old Giovinco was not worth a lucrative extension. Giovinco lamented the club’s “change of direction” in a farewell Instagram post and stated he would have preferred to stay in Toronto. 

A bitter departure will not erase the magic he created in his time in MLS. Knowing that he wanted to stay speaks well of the club and of the future, which hopefully will be filled with more Giovincos. He’s a difficult act to follow.

Harrison Hamm is a sportswriter who covers American soccer and MLS for FloFC. He also covers sports for FanSided and The Comeback, and has freelanced for the Washington Post.