Columbus Crew trade midfielder Artur to Houston Dynamo for up to $350k in allocation money
The Crew have traded midfielder Artur to the Houston Dynamo for up to $350,000 in general allocation money, the team announced Tuesday evening.
The club will receive a guaranteed $200,000 in GAM in 2023, a guaranteed $100,000 in GAM in 2024 and up to an additional $50,000 in GAM if Artur meets certain performance metrics with his new team.
Artur first came to the Crew on loan from São Paulo FC at the beginning of the 2017 season. After that year, the Crew completed a permanent transfer, and Artur became a regular starter for the next three seasons, including starting 25 of 27 games during the 2020 season when the Crew won MLS Cup.
After missing most of the 2021 season with lingering injuries, Artur was back to full health at the beginning of 2022 and started the season's first 13 games, playing 90 minutes eight times in that stretch. He then missed just over two months with a hairline fracture in his leg but was healthy for the rest of the season.
In total, Artur played in 138 regular-season games and made 124 starts – 24 of those appearances and 20 of the starts coming in 2022 – with two goals and nine assists in his six seasons with Columbus. He earned a base salary of $564,000 this season, according to data from the MLS Players Association.
"I would like to thank Artur for his contributions to the Crew and the Columbus community over the past six seasons and he will always be a part of our club’s history and our recent accomplishments, which include raising two trophies,” president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement. “We believe this move will give us valuable flexibility as we build our roster for the 2023 season and beyond.”
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Trading Artur gives not only gives the Crew wiggle room when it comes to the salary cap, but it also opens space in the central midfield for Aidan Morris, who started in Artur's place when he was out with his leg injury. Morris played a total of 1,811 minutes across 27 appearances.
Caleb Porter, who was let go after missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year, preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation, which meant only one of Artur or Morris could play in the central midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe. The hiring process for the new coach is still underway. so it's unknown what setup will be preferred for the Crew next year, but Morris' production will almost certainly earn him a shot to be the go-to starter at the No. 8 position.
Central midfielders Sean Zawadzki and Isaiah Parente have both seen time at the MLS level, and they won MLS Next Pro Cup with Crew 2, so the Crew have some depth at the position as well.
After trading Artur, the Crew have eight open roster spots for the 2023 season.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew trade Artur to Houston Dynamo
