Columbus Crew has acquired veteran midfielder Darlington Nagbe in a trade with Atlanta United according to multiple reports. The Athletic says that the trade involved Atlanta receiving an undisclosed, but “significant” amount of allocation money. Reportedly, the two teams were discussing this trade for the past few weeks.
Nagbe started 32 games for Atlanta this season, contributing with two goals and four assists. He also played a key role in the team’s transition from defense to attack.
In Columbus, Nagbe will be reunited with head coach Caleb Porter. The pair successfully worked together at the University of Akron, where they NCAA title in 2010. They also reunited with Portland Timbers, where they collaborated between 2013 and 2017 and won MLS Cup in 2015.
ESPN points out that Nagbe was keen on rejoining Porter before the start of the 2019 season when he tried to force a trade to Columbus. The move didn’t happen as Crew and Atlanta couldn’t come to an agreement at the time.
Darlington Nagbe spent the first seven years of his professional career with Timbers, making 239 appearances with the team and scoring 31 goals. He also had one MLS All-Star appearance during that period. Timbers traded Nagbe to Atlanta in 2017 for $1.05 million in allocation money.
