VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced on Thursday that the club has acquired $1 million in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) plus a natural first round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft and conditional GAM if certain performance metrics are met from Los Angeles FC in exchange for goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau. The club will receive $250,000 in 2022 GAM, $250,000 in 2023 GAM and $500,000 in GAM between 2023, 2024 and/or 2025 based on the player’s roster status. As part of the trade, Whitecaps FC will retain a significant percentage of the fee if Crépeau is transferred abroad.
“Max came to us with a very personal request,” said Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC sporting director. “Although he has been an important player, of course we made the decision to support Max as best we could, as long as his value was acknowledged in the deal. We have managed to finalize the largest trade in league history for a goalkeeper, and one of the biggest overall. We would like to thank Max for his three years here. He has put his heart and soul into the team and he has the respect of everyone at the club.
“We are fortunate to have another talented Canadian goalkeeper in Thomas Hasal who deserves an opportunity to prove himself as an MLS starter,” added Schuster. “As we said throughout last season, we are very confident in Thomas, and we will continue to evaluate goalkeeper options to add to our group as we get set for this coming season and beyond.”
Crépeau joined the ’Caps prior to the 2019 season from CF Montreal in exchange for $50,000 of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and Vancouver’s natural third-round pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. The product of Candiac, Quebec went on to start 57 MLS regular season matches, one match in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and three Canadian Championship matches. The Canadian international was voted Whitecaps FC Player of the Year in 2019, and again in 2021 when he registered a career-best six clean sheets.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone within the Vancouver Whitecaps organization for all of their support since day one. Furthermore, I am extremely grateful to the amazing fan base and supporters in the great city of Vancouver, you always had my back,” said Crépeau. “Thank you to everyone for the wonderful messages you have shared with me, as this is personally the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my professional career. I’m extremely thankful to the club for working together on finding a solution.”
TRANSACTION: On January 20, 2022, Vancouver Whitecaps FC acquire $1 million in General Allocation Money plus additional incentives and a first round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft from LAFC in exchange for goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.
