Whitecaps trade star wing-back Gressel to Crew for $850K in GAM

The Vancouver Whitecaps traded Julian Gressel to the Columbus Crew in exchange for up to $850,000 in general allocation money, the clubs announced Friday.

The versatile United States international will join his fourth MLS club after previous stints with Atlanta United and D.C. United. He's amassed 24 goals and 65 assists over 202 career regular-season matches. Gressel, 29, captured the MLS Cup in 2018 and U.S. Open Cup in 2019 while with Atlanta.

"Throughout his career, Julian has been a versatile, dangerous player with a strong ability to create goals and assists, which has helped his clubs win championships and led him to the U.S. men's national team," Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said.

"As we continue to push toward becoming a consistent contender in the East, we are constantly evaluating opportunities to strengthen our roster, and adding a player of Julian's caliber and character to our dynamic attack will be impactful," he added.

Gressel, in the final year of his contract, wanted to move to the East Coast for family reasons, according to Tom Bogert of The Athletic. Vancouver made the German-born star a "strong" contract offer, but when it became clear an agreement wouldn't be reached, the team notified him of Columbus' interest and trade offer, Bogert adds.

Gressel figures to slot directly into the right-wing-back role for Wilfried Nancy's Columbus team, which sits sixth in the Eastern Conference and heads into the Leagues Cup break as the highest-scoring MLS side this season.