CF Montreal have switched Erik Hurtado to Columbus Crew after he refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The crew has spent $ 200,000 in general allocation money, reinforcing an attack line currently missing Gyasi Zardes and Kevin Molino – who are at the Concacaf Gold Cup with USMNT and Trinidad & Tobago respectively – as well as Bradley Wright-Phillips, who is currently injured.
30-year-old Hurtado had been in Montreal for just one season, after being acquired by Sporting Kansas City in 2018. He played 28 games and scored seven goals, but the club has decided to replace him after stating that he had no intention. to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Speaking about the decision to release Hurtado, sports director Olivier Renard said: “There was some interest in Erik in recent weeks and we listened to the offers, even though we were happy with Erik’s work.
“Because he was not vaccinated against Covid-19, his situation was problematic. We started considering a trade when we received confirmation that the team could return to Montreal.
# Crew96 acquires Erik Hurtado in trade with @clubdefootmtl.
– The crew (@ColumbusCrew) July 8, 2021
“Before Erik continued, Erik also confirmed that he did not feel comfortable taking the vaccine, so we closed this deal, which we considered very satisfactory. We want to thank Erik for his professionalism and wish him luck in his career.”
Meanwhile, the crew seems very pleased with Hurtado’s acquisition, with president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko saying of the trade: “Erik is a versatile forward who has valuable experience in our league and gives us another option on attack.
“His addition to our list will ensure we have another proven MLS goal scorer to call on when needed.”
Hurtado’s arrival is a boost for Crew’s newly started play-off hopes. The Eastern Conference side are currently eighth in the MLS table, having won just four of their 12 games so far, although they came from two goals down against Cincinnati last time to earn an impressive draw.
