The Impact announced Thursday what pretty well everyone who follows the club was expecting to hear, that it has come to an agreement with Italian defender Matteo Ferrari, who has been in camp with the club since the middle of February.

“That means over 58,000. That would be the largest regular-season game ever in MLS history and it would be the largest soccer game in Canada. So if you haven’t bought tickets buy some and if you have, buy 10 more.”

Canadian Evan James rounded out the rout, converting a cross from Miguel Montano — who spent part of last season with the Impact in its final NASL season — to make the final score 3-0 Impact.

Saputo was clearly having some fun on social media Monday, telling his followers about his European travels and his quest to find his club some veteran help.

It has its primary sponsor. It has its new logo. And now the Montreal Impact has its man. He is Jesse Marsch.

The soap opera that is the Montreal Impact’s final season in NASL has taken another bizarre turn. On Sunday, a day after a large number of the Ultras —the Impact’s largest and most vocal supporters’ group — walked out of Stade Saputo at the outset of a 3-1 loss to the NSC Minnesota Stars, owner Joey Saputo wrote an open letter to the fans.

“For example, Etienne Barbara,” said De Santis, referring to the NASL’s leading scorer to date this season and a man who has expressed interest in playing in MLS. “We can negotiate with him and have until March to confirm a contract with him or any other players in those leagues.”

And maybe it’s best that the Impact looks forward. Because, after a 1-0 loss to the NSC Minnesota Stars Friday night, it looks more and more like the current season is a write-off

In a pre-game press conference Sunday afternoon, Impact President Joey Saputo and Richard Legendre, Executive VP of the Impact and Saputo Stadium, announced modifications to both the schedule of activity and the design parameters of the upcoming expansion to the team’s home field. Disappointed in the offers received for the initial tendering of contracts for the project, Saputo told the media that in order to respect the $23-million budget, the construction will begin in September, rather than in July as announced earlier, and that the refurbished stadium would not be ready in time for opening day of the Impact’s first MLS season.

Impact coach and technical director Nick De Santis said after practice yesterday that he wanted to see more initiative on the part of his men, particularly in the visiting Atlanta Silverbacks’ third of the field. He got what he wanted from Eduardo Sebrango who scored two on the afternoon with the second allowing the Impact to snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat and taking him to the century mark for his career.