Columbus Crew General Manager Issa Tall has hit the ground running since taking over his new role just over two weeks ago, negotiating deals that have seen some new faces arrive in the capital city and some depart. Most notably Tall is helping orchestrate a transfer that reportedly sees Black & Gold homegrown Aidan Morris depart Columbus and head to Middlesborough of the English Championship.

While that deal appears to have started prior to former General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko leaving to join Black Knight Football Club, the task of carrying it over the finish line will be completed by Issa Tall.

The new Crew GM wasted little in finding a replacement midfielder to fill the vacancy left by Morris when he added French midfielder Dylan Chambost early last week. Tall continued player acquisitions on Tuesday when Columbus announced it had acquired 22-year-old midfielder Aziel Jackson from St. Louis CITY SC.

Jackson comes to Central Ohio as part of a trade that sees $650,000 of General Allocation Money return to CITY SC. The second-year MLS side is guaranteed to receive $325,000 in 2024 GAM and $325,000 in 2025 while an additional $250,000 is up for grabs should Jackson meet certain performance metrics that have been set. St. Louis will receive a percentage of a future transfer fee if Jackson is moved outside of MLS as well. He will be available for selection when the summer transfer window opens on July 18.

“Aziel is a young and dynamic talent who will fit within our system and offer our coaching staff some added tactical flexibility in midfield,” said Tall. “We look forward to Aziel’s continued progression within our Club and culture, which emphasizes individual player development within a team-focused structure.”

Jackson joins the Black & Gold following two seasons in St. Louis, where he appeared in 41 regular season matches and recorded one goal and five assists. He was acquired by CITY SC prior to the 2023 campaign after earning Best XI honors with MNUFC2 in 2022, when he amassed 10 goals and seven assists in 23 games. He finished the season tied for third in MLSNP standings for assists, three shy of league-leader Mohamed Farsi (10).

Jackson signed a Homegrown contract with Minnesota United in April 2021 following a trade with the New York Red Bulls for his homegrown priority. A Red Bull Academy product, Jackson moved to France at 16 years old and played with Toulouse FC for two seasons. Upon returning to the U.S., Jackson was loaned to USL Championship side North Carolina FC for the 2021 season.

Earlier this year, Jackson was selected to participate in the United States’ annual January training camp and earned his first senior cap on Jan. 20, 2024, entering in the second half of an international friendly against Slovenia.