COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Crew announced Friday the organization has traded defender Jonathan Mensah to the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for up to $500,000 of General Allocation Money (GAM).
The Crew will receive a guaranteed $100,000 in 2023 GAM, a guaranteed $100,000 in 2024 GAME and up to a conditional $300,000 in GAM in certain performance metrics are reached.
Mensah was in the last year of his contract with the Crew. Ahead of the 2020 season, Mensah was appointed the team’s captain.
He leaves after six seasons with the club that saw him capture the 2020 MLS Cup and 2021 Campeones Cup trophies.
“Above all, we want to thank Jonathan for his contributions to the Crew and the Columbus community on-and-off the field since joining the Club in 2017. He is truly the consummate professional, a great teammate and an even better person. Jonathan will always remain an important part of our Club’s history, including winning MLS Cup 2020 together, and we wish him and his wife Kafui all the best in the future,” said Crew President & General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “This was certainly a difficult decision to make as we assessed our roster throughout the preseason heading into the 2023 campaign. This opportunity materialized and we felt would give us flexibility to promote players from within the Club and add new players from the outside, in the short term and long term.”
Since coming to Columbus prior to the start of the 2017 season, Mensah has made 159 regular-season appearances (155 starts) and scored seven goals with three assists. He started all 12 postseason matches in which he has appeared.
Mensah was selected as the team’s Defender of the Year for three consecutive seasons (2018-20).
The Crew are currently training in Florida through Feb. 18 as they prepare for the start of the 2023 season. Columbus will open the season at Philadelphia on Feb. 25.
