When Columbus Crew fans woke up on Monday morning, they were greeted by the reports from Massive Report of a new center back, Rudy Camacho, joining the team, a trade that was shortly confirmed by the team. However, it didn’t take long for the day to be thrown on its head for Black & Gold supporters.

Mere hours before Columbus took on Club América in the Leagues Cup, arguably one of the biggest games in team history, it was announced that the Crew had agreed to a transfer deal with Saudi side Al Fateh SC for midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, arguably the team’s best-ever player. To say this was a shock to many, despite reports floating around the week prior that there was interest from Al Fateh, would be an understatement.

Zelearayan joined the Crew in 2020 and put together a remarkable three-and-a-half-year run that hadn’t been seen in black and gold. His ability to score from in and outside the penalty box was something Major League Soccer hadn’t seen in a player and his ability to create put him up there with the best No. 10s to play for Columbus. At points during his tenure, Zelarayan, who was the league’s Newcomer of the Year and MLS Cup MVP in his debut season and was twice named and MLS All-Star, carried the Crew over the line.

The natural question, and one that has already been asked many times since the move was announced, is why the Black & Gold, general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, head coach Wilfried Nancy and the rest of the staff elected to move on from Zelarayan. The answer is complicated.

“As we evaluated the roster, and we know that more and more interest is coming from our players and in our league, and so we knew this was a possibility. It’s not the first one (offer) we’ve received for Lucas. But given where we’re at with our roster build and what we see ahead, in the short and long term, we felt like it was something that we needed to consider,” Bezbatchenko told Massive Report when discussing this transfer.

First, let’s examine the facts. Zelarayan turned 31 in June, and his contract, which was extended in 2021, runs through next season. Massive Report understands that it was not the intention of the Columbus front office to re-sign Zelarayan after that deal expired. Also, Zelarayan was involved in the decision to move on from the Crew and MLS and make the move to the Saudi Pro League.

Taking all that into account, Zelarayan is on the wrong side of 30 for a professional athlete. While he has not shown any signs of slowing down, leading the team with 10 goals this season, there is some aspect of seizing the opportunity while his value is high. The Crew has previously received offers for Zelarayan and turned them down to maximize his value, both in terms of his on-field contributions and the financial return from a transfer. In this situation, Zelarayan was likely to leave the club by the end of the 2024 season, and the offer on the table provided resources for the Black & Gold going forward (more on that later).

Another question that was circling among the fanbase is how much the Crew received in a transfer fee for Zelarayan. The club did not disclose this number in the announcement for Zelarayan but sources told Massive Report that it is short of the club-record transfer fee, which was between $7-$10 million, the Black & Gold received for goalkeeper Zack Steffen. Al Fateh is not one of the Saudi Pro teams that is state-owned and has unlimited funds.

It’s fair to question why Columbus chose this moment to move on from Zelarayan, especially since the team is in contention in the Eastern Conference and was playing its best soccer before the Leagues Cup break, with Zelarayan playing a pivotal role. Just two weeks ago, his two-goal effort gave the Crew a chance to secure a draw in Portland and extend the team’s unbeaten run to nine games.

The answer lies in the fact that MLS plays throughout the summer, while much of the rest of the soccer world is in its offseason, and this time of year is the primary transfer window for those leagues.

“I think this is gonna become more and more a part of it given that we do not play on the world calendar,” Bezbatchenko said. “I think over the years in MLS, you’ve seen some of the top players depart in the summer because that’s when most of the rest of the world does business.”

More teams are willing to spend money during the summer transfer window to have players arrive at the club in time for the new season. This means there is more money available, and MLS teams have to carefully weigh their options.

As for the impact on the Black & Gold, there’s no doubt losing Zelarayan will be felt. From a locker room perspective alone, he was one of the most popular players on the roster, as evidenced by Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez dedicating their celebrations in the win against Club América to the departed Argentine, who watched from a box at Lower.com Field before departing for Saudi Arabia.

However, losing teammates is a normal part of professional sports. Zelarayan is not the first, nor will he be the last, locker room presence to leave Columbus. Teams and players move on, and the games continue.

Regarding the games themselves, there is now a Zelarayan-sized hole in the Crew lineup. The Black & Gold front office believes that while filling that void will be challenging, the roster has the talent to continue scoring goals.

“You have Cucho, Christian, Jacen (Russell-Rowe), Alex (Matan), Yaw (Yeboah) and Julian Gressel to name a few,” Bezbatchenko said. “We scored the most goals in the league up to this point. We don’t plan on taking a step backward. We feel like with the system that the coaches have put in place, it really allows the collective to shine and it sets up all the players to be in position to score goals.”

While other players have contributed goals and assists this year, Zelarayan has been involved in nearly 40 percent of Columbus’ finishes this season, either scoring or providing the assist. His presence also creates space for Hernandez and Ramirez, among others, to operate, and this aspect cannot be simply replaced by Matan, who started against América and is a good player but not on the level of Zelarayan.

It’s worth noting that without Zelarayan on Monday night, the Crew defeated Club América 4-1 behind a Hernandez brace. This was against one of the best teams in Mexico that finished the 2022-23 season in second place in Liga MX.

As is always the case, no moves are made in isolation. The Crew didn’t allow Zelarayan to leave without at least having a plan in place to replace him. While plans don’t always come to fruition (evidenced by the team’s failure to sign a center back before the season), there is hope that a move can be made before the summer transfer window closes on Aug. 2.

Columbus is already attempting to make a big move by acquiring former LAFC midfielder/forward Diego Rossi from Turkish side Fenerbahçe. Although no deal has been finalized at this point, the Crew has multiple options being explored. This type of move makes sense after parting ways with a club legend like Zelarayan.

Moreover, Black & Gold fans should trust Bezbatchenko. The GM has consistently made moves to improve the team and has shown again this season his ability to identify key additions. Ramirez and Wing back Malte Amundsen weren’t high-profile acquisitions but have been instrumental to Columbus’ success this year. Bezbatchenko and his staff have also made significant improvements to the backline, which was previously leaking goals, with the addition of center backs Yevhen Cheberko and Rudy Camacho in this transfer window. Gressel, too, has proven to be a shrewd addition to bolster the wing back position.

While the loss of Zelarayan is certainly significant, considering his contributions to the team’s championship win and his standout performances over the past three-plus seasons, there are often underlying factors behind any transfer. Although this may not be immediately apparent to fans, the big picture will become clearer in due course.