Columbus Crew traded captain Jonathan Mensah to fellow MLS side San Jose Earthquakes on Friday.
The deal will see the Crew receive up to $500,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) – 40% guaranteed across the next two seasons, while the remainder is conditional on the 2024 and 2025 Roster Compliance Dates – for the 32-year-old Ghanaian centre-back.
San Jose will cover the entirety of Mensah’s salary, which was $1 million per MLS Players Association salary data released last fall.
The Earthquakes announced Thursday that they will be without center back Nathan indefinitely after he tore his ACL, which is what motivated their acquisition of Mensah.
According to The Dispatch, Mensah was notified approximately a week ago of his standing on the Crew roster, and several teams were interested in trading for the MLS veteran. San Jose was willing to take on his full salary, making the Earthquakes the landing spot.
One of the best in @MLS.
Let the @Jomens25 era begin.#VamosSJ pic.twitter.com/SLt7bGvqSV
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) February 10, 2023
Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch stated in a release: “We feel very fortunate and excited to bring in Jonathan, who has been named MLS Best XI, has captained an MLS Cup-winning side, and who knows what it takes to perform and be a leader for a competitive team in MLS. His leadership and success in Major League Soccer will be invaluable to our squad as we approach the 2023 regular season and his qualities as a human being will positively impact our organization and community.”
Jonathan Mensah signed with Columbus in 2017 and was named the team’s captain in 2020 as he helped lead the Crew to win MLS Cup. He made 159 appearances in six seasons and scored six goals. His contract with the Crew was due to expire after this year.
