The Colorado Rapids acquired U.S. men’s national team forward Gyasi Zardes from the Columbus Crew on Friday.
The Crew received $300,000 in general allocation money in the deal. They are eligible to receive up to $1.1 million more in the deal if Zardes meets performance incentives and re-signs with Colorado for three years beyond 2022.
Zardes, who occupied a designated-player slot with the Crew, started just one of Columbus’ seven games this season, scoring one goal. The Crew have given more playing time to second-year striker Miguel Berry, who also has one goal this season in seven games (six starts).
Zardes, 30, started as a homegrown player with the Los Angeles Galaxy and turned his production into 67 appearances with the U.S. men’s national team. He has scored 14 goals for his country.
The Hawthorne, Calif., native has 88 career MLS goals and 23 assists in 241 games (216 starts) over 10 seasons. In five seasons with the Crew, he scored 54 goals with six assists in 110 games (100 starts).
“Gyasi is an elite level attacker with a strong history of production and a successful track record both in MLS and with the U.S. Men’s National Team,” Rapids general manager Padraig Smith said in a news release. “His character, mentality, experience and goal-scoring prowess will greatly benefit our team. We’re thrilled to bolster our offense with his signing and look forward to welcoming him to Colorado.”
It’s unclear whether Zardes will be available for the Rapids in their home game Saturday against Charlotte FC.
The Rapids were the top team in the Western Conference last season, going 17-7-10 (61 points). They are off to a disappointing 2-3-2 (8 points) start this season. After winning the MLS Cup title in 2020, the Crew are just 2-3-2 (8 points) this season.
“We want to thank Gyasi personally as he has been an important member of the Crew and the Columbus community since joining in 2018,” Crew president and GM Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement. “We know Gyasi quickly became a fan favorite given all of his contributions both on the field and throughout Central Ohio and we did not take this decision lightly.”
–Field Level Media
