Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez Shock in Columbus Crew Breakup: 3 Reasons They'll Bounce Back | OneFootball

Columbus Crew SC had one of the best trios in MLS. In 2025, just Diego Rossi remains.

On Wednesday, GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert reported the Crew were selling forward Christian Ramirez to the MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy, just one day after star Designated Player, Cucho Hérnandez, left for La Liga’s Real Betis.

Through 2024, the Crew tormented MLS defences with the front three of Hérnandez, Ramirez, and former LAFC star Diego Rossi. Only one is left heading into 2025.

Hérnandez scored 19 goals and 14 assists in 2024, while Ramirez scored eight and had six helpers. Combined, the trio had 39 goals of the Crew’s 72.

Ramirez joined the Crew in 2023 after two seasons with Aberdeen in Scotland, helping the Crew to the 2023 MLS Cup title.

Now he’s heading to his fifth MLS club, with the Galaxy adding the 33-year-old as a quick replacement for Serbian international striker Dejan Joveljić, who they sold to Sporting Kansas City for $4 million in the first cash-for-player transfer in MLS history.

With the Galaxy, he'll even have a chance to get back into a big attack as well, alongside Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil and Marco Reus, while Riqui Puig is likely to miss most of the season due to an ACL injury.

1. Diego Rossi, Wilfried Nancy's experience

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy will lean on Diego Rossi to start the season. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Losing Hérnandez was a big blow. With him, they lost their starting striker and creative midfielder, a diminutive attacker who could run a team and continuously provide attacking contributions, even in the biggest games.While Rossi has done well in different situations at LAFC and Columbus, driving an attack has never been his forte. He had Carlos Vela in LA, and he’s always had qualities to play off in Columbus. The confidence the crew can have, though, lies with head coach Wilfried Nancy. While Nancy has already found great success, winning MLS Cup, the Canadian Championship, Leagues Cup and going on a run in the Concacaf Champions Cup with the Crew, the solution may be harkening back to his time with CF Montréal. In his second season with Montréal, he helped a team without much expensive attacking talent to second place in the Eastern Conference before being scooped up by the Crew in the offseason. The frugal, tactical approach is familiar to Nancy, and he’ll likely need to revert to it to start 2025.

2. A chance for a Canadian international?

Columbus Crew forward Jacen Russell-Rowe will likely take on a more prominent role in 2025. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

There’s now pressure on the Crew’s attacking depth. With two of the best players gone, they will need to see more consistent and improved performances from some of the standouts that have come through their system. Canadian international Jacen Russell-Rowe has often played substitute minutes and shadowed with the potent front three but will be one of the players called upon to make an immediate impact. A fast, enigmatic striker who can get in behind, he’s likely more of a Ramirez replacement than Hernandez. Russell-Rowe has nine goals and six assists in 1,788 MLS minutes and was a critical part of the 2022 Crew 2 team that won MLS Next Pro, scoring 21 goals in 19 appearances. Other players that could hit a new level also include Max Arfsten, coming off a four-goal, eight-assist season, and Mo Farsi, who scored four goals and five assists as a wingback in 2024.

3. Crew could spend big for a quick fix

Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe battles FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

With MLS transfers still open within the league, the Crew could quickly move with a trade or cash-for-player deal. The new cash system would allow them to splash on an established MLS player and bring in a proven product. However, they could see themselves in a position to get through to the summer and spend significant cash on foreign talent. The concern for Columubus will be making the right move, as they enter a late offseason and unplanned re-tool. Spending cash is easy, but ensuring the player comes in and works with Nancy’s system and the Crew’s ideologies is more challenging. “Operating in this window is hard because we're dealing with a majority of the leagues, that is their secondary window,” general manager Issa Tall told MLS Soccer’s Charles Boehem. “Yeah, we are ready. I mean, we're looking; at the same time it's a process that's been going on for months with closely with Wilfried [Nancy], where we meet regularly, we are on the same page. He shared his vision on how he wants to play, how he wants to evolve the way we want to play. Therefore, the players that we bring in have to be very specific.”One potential player to watch for could be FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, who has been at odds with his club despite a year remaining on his Designated Player contract. A cash trade might be the way to go, and Cucho for Lucho would undoubtedly create some great headlines.

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