Union trade David Accam to Columbus Crew

The Union announced a surprising trade on Wednesday, dealing forward David Accam to the Columbus Crew for $500,000 of cash in MLS’ allocation money system for 2020 and an international roster spot for this season.

Of the money, $400,000 is classified in the “general” tier for use across the roster, and $100,000 is classified as “targeted” for use on higher-end players.

The Union acquired Accam, 28, in January of last year from the Chicago Fire for $1.2 million in various sums of allocation money. Whether the team turned a profit on that is hard to tell, because there have been multiple trades of cash since then. But the return in this trade is significant, as is moving Accam’s $1.25 million salary off the books.

Sporting director Ernst Tanner said the money will help keep dynamic midfielder Jamiro Monteiro here for the rest of the season. The Union initially signed Monteiro from French club Metz to a loan deal through June, with options to keep him for the rest of the year and buy him outright afterward.

Extending Monteiro should also help smooth over the impact of trading Accam to a conference rival.

“This is always a concern, because you don’t want to make your opponent stronger, necessarily. But at the same time, we need to look out for what we are going to do in the future,” Tanner said. “The system [of MLS’ financial restrictions] doesn’t allow you much, so you need to create before you can do something. ... It is clear that we want to keep Jamiro, and that is in our hands, but we need to have the flexibility for that."

As for Accam’s legacy, the Ghana native departs having scored just six goals in his time here. He scored only two last season, and didn’t reveal until October that he was still suffering from lingering effects of a sports hernia operation the previous winter.

Accam came into this year fully healthy and intent on rebounding. He delivered, recording four goals and two assists -- including two goals and one assist in a late-March win over the team he’s now joining. The performance became even more resonant when Accam announced afterward that his father had died a few days earlier.

“He dealt with a lot, and he did it all very professionally,” manager Jim Curtin said.

Nonetheless, Accam wasn’t playing much. A winger by nature, he wasn’t a perfect fit in the Union’s winger-less system. He told Tanner that he’d accept a move to a team where he’d play more.

“He was not that happy," Tanner said. “He did not bad in his adapting, and he did a good job for us this season. At the same time, when you get an offer, you need to make a decision. ... [The offer] didn’t surprise us, but we needed to act."