Lucas Zelarayán: Columbus Crew sell star midfielder to Saudi Pro League side Al Fateh

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In Lucas Zelarayán, Major League Soccer lost one of the league’s biggest stars to the emerging Saudi Pro League. On Monday, the Columbus Crew announced that they had agreed to sell Zelarayán to Al Fateh. Although details of a transfer fee were not announced, Zelarayán has a market value of €7 million the Crew will lose their second most valuable player for a transfer fee of just €2.75 million plus add-ons that could see the deal grow to €3m. The Argentine, who represents Armenia internationally, will now become the most valuable player on Al Fateh’s squad (overview).

Market Value

L. Zelarayán Attacking Midfield

€4.50m

"This transfer is beneficial for both the Crew and the player, and it provides us with additional resources and opportunities as we approach the close of the secondary window and plan for the future as we look to remain consistently competitive,” Crew President and General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a club statement. “We are confident in our club's leadership, direction, and personnel as we continually strive to bring trophies to Columbus."

Although the club recently acquired Julian Gressel from the Vancouver Whitecaps, there is no doubt the Crew will try to add a significant piece before the secondary transfer window closes. Considering a first offer for Zelarayán came in several days ago, it will be interesting to see whether Bezbatchenko has new players in the pipeline. 

Zelarayán headed to Al Fateh – Columbus Crew lose impact player

Signed for a then-record transfer from Tigres UANL in 2020, Zelarayán has scored 42 goals and 23 assists in 107 games across all competitions for the Crew and led the club to an MLS Cup championship in 2020. This season, Zelarayán led the Crew with 16 scorer points (10 goals and six assists) and has been fifth overall in MLS with 16 scorer points. 

Stats

L. Zelarayán Attacking Midfield

Columbus Crew

Career stats–
All competitions

Games

107

Goals

42

Assists

23

A player with a tremendous shooting technique, Zelarayán certainly has the ability to be a threat from set pieces or from distance. But the 31-year-old is much more than that. According to Wyscout, Zelarayán is also third in MLS with 24 key passes, fifth with 35 smart passes, and third in one-v-one dribble attempts with 152 attempts. In other words, Zelarayán is a complete attacking package, and while Al Fateh gain an excellent player, the Crew will now have an almost impossible task to replace their star playmaker.