Columbus Crew: All in on playmaker Lucas Zelarayan

The Columbus Crew have made a huge move by bringing in Lucas Zelarayan from Tigres for a club-record transfer fee. They are all in on the playmaker.

The Columbus Crew have made a huge signing. Lucas Zelarayan will join the Eastern Conference club from Tigres UANL of Liga MX for a club-record fee of $7 million. He will occupy a Designated Player roster spot and bring a wealth of experience competing at a high level.

Zelarayan was a key part of Tigres roster during his time in Liga MX and played alongside hugely talented players such as Andre-Pierre Gignac.

The midfielder scored four goals in 15 appearances during his most recent campaign with the club from Monterrey, Mexico. In total, the 27-year- old has 23 goals in 139 appearances for Tigres.

This is a massive signing for the Columbus Crew as Zelarayan will fill a huge void left by Federico Higuain, who had long been the conductor of the midfielder and a key team leader.

Higuain was often involved in the Crew’s goal-scoring by giving players such as Gyasi Zardes the necessary service they needed to be successful. The Crew will hope their new signing can help create chances for Zardes as Higuain did.

Zelarayan becomes the latest player to join a Major League Soccer club from Liga MX. Already this month, we have seen high-quality players from Mexico’s top division make the move to MLS, most of all Golden Boot winner Alan Pulido smashing Sporting Kansas City’s transfer record in another DP acquisition.

Zelarayan might not quite have the same pedigree as Pulido, largely used as a rotational player for Tigres, but it is still reasonable to expect him to be a difference-maker for the Crew.

After missing the postseason in 2019, the Crew are hoping they can bounce back from a campaign that ended in disappointment. They have already added Darlington Nagbe and now Zelarayan will join the MLS veteran in the midfield, which is quickly becoming a position of serious strength.

When Wil Trapp and Artur are competing for the final position in a central midfield trio, you know you are strong and deep at the most important position on the pitch. Heading into the season, then, Zelarayan is now the Crew’s best player in the entire squad. The Crew should be very happy to pull off this signing and bring a very talented player into the team.

Last season, with Higuain on the sidelines, they lacked that playmaking ability in the final third to unlock defenses. Zelarayan certainly brings that and more. It will be fascinating to watch, although not if you are playing against him and an increasingly formidable-looking Crew midfield.