Toronto FC announced Friday that it has acquired Canadian goalkeeper Kyriakos (Kenny) Stamatopoulos in a loan deal from Norwegian club Tromso I.L.

Toronto has the option of buying the goalkeeper from Tromso at the end of the season.

Canadian goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos takes part in his first practice for Toronto FC on Friday.
(Neil Davidson/Canadian Press)

Stamatopoulos, 27, joined Tromso in 2006, after playing with Kalamata in Greece and Swedish clubs Enkoping and Boden.

"I'm very excited," said Stamatopoulos, who was born in Greece but calls Markham, Ont., home.

"It's great to play back home. I've heard a lot of good things about the fans here and the club, and the city is just great. I'm very happy to be here."

Stamatopoulos, who trained with the team on Friday, is expected to start in Sunday's home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy (CBC, 7 p.m. ET) and will serve as a replacement for Greg Sutton, Toronto's starting goalkeeper, who has been lost for the rest of the season due to concussion.

"Obviously, it's unfortunate with Greg's situation," said Toronto coach Mo Johnston. "Looking at Kenny in pre-season, he looked like a very comfortable goalkeeper, he looked very agile. He was someone we were looking at, at the start of the year if Greg hadn't of panned out. 

"Adding Stamatopoulos, I believe we're adding a quality international player to our squad, especially at a time when it's needed."

Stamatopoulos has played three times for Canada's national team, with his last appearance coming in October 2006 in a game against Jamaica.