Columbus Crew acquire goalkeeper Evan Bush after winning MLS Cup

Less than 48 hours after the Columbus Crew secured the MLS Cup title with a dominant 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night, the champs were back to work. 

On Monday, Columbus announced the acquisition of goalkeeper Evan Bush from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Bush, a native of Ohio, was previously with the Montreal Impact from 2011 through September 2020, when Montreal dealt him to Vancouver. The 34-year-old has made 184 appearances and kept 41 clean sheets during Major League Soccer regular-season action. 

Bush has also started in 13 CONCACAF Champions League matches during his career. 

“We are pleased to welcome Evan to Columbus,” Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in the prepared statement. “Evan is a talented goalkeeper whose significant experience in MLS will be a great addition to our team. We look forward to integrating him into the team and seeing him push our goalkeeping corps as we prepare for the 2021 season.”

Vancouver sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster added: 

“Evan was only with us for a short period of time; however, we are very thankful for his contributions. He arrived in Portland at the end of September and helped us in a very unique season where we had to use six different goalkeepers on our match day rosters. As part of our conversations in bringing Evan to the club, he expressed his desire to possibly return closer to home at the end of the year. All parties are pleased with this outcome and we wish him all the best in Columbus.”

Vancouver received $125,000 in general allocation money in the trade and will retain a portion of Bush's 2021 salary budget charge.