The 2023 Columbus Crew season was the club's 28th season of existence and their 28th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States and Canada. The first match of the season was on February 25 against Philadelphia Union. It was the first season under head coach Wilfried Nancy. This was also the first season since 2016 without former captain Jonathan Mensah and midfielder Artur.
The Crew won the MLS Cup against Los Angeles FC, their third league championship and second since 2020.
Roster
Technical Staff
Non-competitive
Preseason
Competitive Overview
MLS
Standings
Eastern Conference
Overall table
fs
Results summary
Results by round
Match results
MLS Cup Playoffs
Round One
Conference Semifinals
Conference Finals
MLS Cup 2023
Leagues Cup
Group stage: Central 1
Knockout stage
U.S. Open Cup
Statistics Appearances and goals Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.
|colspan=12 align=center|Players who left Columbus during the season:
Disciplinary record No. Pos. Name MLS MLS Cup Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Leagues Cup Total 2 DF Philip Quinton2000000020 3 DF Josh Williams0000000000 4 DF Rudy Camacho1030000040 6 MF Darlington Nagbe4000001050 7 MF Julian Gressel0010000010 8 MF Aidan Morris5010000060 9 FW Cucho Hernández5120001081 10 FW Diego Rossi0020000020 12 DF Gustavo Vallecilla3000000030 13 FW Kevin Molino0000000000 14 MF Yaw Yeboah3000000030 16 MF Isaiah Parente0000000000 17 FW Christian Ramirez2010000030 18 DF Malte Amundsen80300000110 19 FW Jacen Russell-Rowe2000000020 20 MF Alexandru Mățan2000000020 21 DF Yevhen Cheberko1000002010 22 DF Keegan Hughes0000100010 23 DF Mohamed Farsi1000001020 24 GK Evan Bush0000000000 25 MF Sean Zawadzki6000000060 27 FW Maximilian Arfsten1000000010 28 GK Patrick Schulte3000000030 30 MF Will Sands1000000010 31 DF Steven Moreira2010000030 32 GK Brady Scott0000000000 33 DF Jake Morris0000100010 94 DF Jimmy Medranda1000000010 - HC Wilfried Nancy0100000001 - AC Federico Pizzuto0100000001Players who left Columbus during the season: 1 GK Eloy Room0000000000 5 DF Miloš Degenek3000100040 10 MF Lucas Zelarayán4000000040 11 MF Luis Díaz0000000000 37 FW Gibran Rayo0000000000 38 FW Noah Fuson0000000000 39 MF Thomas Roberts0000000000 52 MF Taha Habroune0000000000
Clean sheets
No. Name MLS MLS Cup Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Leagues Cup Total Games Played 24 Evan Bush001015 28 Patrick Schulte7200938 32 Brady Scott000000Players who left Columbus during the season: 1 Eloy Room100013
Transfers
In Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource DF Keegan Hughes Stanford Cardinal Homegrown player, contract runs through 2024 with options through 2026 January 11, 2023 FW Christian Ramirez Aberdeen F.C. Transfer for an undisclosed fee, contract runs through 2024 with an option for 2025 January 19, 2023 DF Philip Quinton Columbus Crew 2 Signed from MLS Next Pro team, contract runs through 2023 with options through 2026 February 8, 2023 FW Maximilian Arfsten San Jose Earthquakes II Signed via the SuperDraft, contract runs through 2024 with options for 2025 and 2026 February 21, 2023 DF Malte Amundsen New York City FC Trade for $400,000 in general allocation money with a potential $100,000 in performance-based additions, contract runs through 2024 with an option for 2025 April 25, 2023 DF Yevhen Cheberko NK Osijek Transfer for an undisclosed fee, contract runs through 2026 June 9, 2023 MF Julian Gressel Vancouver Whitecaps FC Trade for $550,000 in general allocation money across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, including a conditional fee of $300,000 July 21, 2023 DF Rudy Camacho CF Montréal Trade for $400,000 in general allocation money total, $200,000 in 2023 and $200,000 in 2024 July 31, 2023 FW Diego Rossi Fenerbahçe Transfer for $5,630,000 with a $1,000,000 bonus fee and a 15% sell-on clause, contract runs through 2026 with an option for 2027 August 2, 2023 MF Derrick Jones Charlotte FC Free agent, contract runs through 2025 with an option for 2026 December 21, 2023 GK Nicholas Hagen Bnei Sakhnin F.C. Free agent, contract runs through 2024 with options through 2026 December 21, 2023 MF Marino Hinestroza C.F. Pachuca Transfer, undisclosed transfer fee. Contract runs through 2026 with an option for 2027 December 22, 2023
Loan in Pos.PlayerParent clubLength/NotesBeginningEndSource DF Gustavo Vallecilla Colorado Rapids $175,000 in General Allocation Money, on loan through 2023 season with option to purchase March 3, 2023 December 9, 2023MF Thomas Roberts Columbus Crew 2Short-term agreements May 10, 2023 May 10, 2023 May 24, 2023 May 24, 2023FW Noah Fuson Columbus Crew 2Short-term agreements March 4, 2023 March 4, 2023 May 10, 2023 May 10, 2023FW Gibran Rayo Columbus Crew 2Short-term agreements May 24, 2023 May 24, 2023 May 31, 2023 May 31, 2023 June 3, 2023 June 3, 2023 MF Taha Habroune Columbus Crew 2 Short-term agreement May 24, 2023 May 24, 2023
Out Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource DF Jonathan Mensah San Jose Earthquakes Traded for $200,000 in General Allocation Money, and potentially an additional $300,000 if certain performance metrics are met February 10, 2023 GK Eloy Room SBV Vitesse Mutual consent termination July 17, 2023 DF Miloš Degenek Red Star Belgrade Transfer, undisclosed transfer fee. July 24, 2023 MF Lucas Zelarayán Al Fateh SC Transfer, undisclosed transfer fee. July 31, 2023 MF Luis Díaz Colorado Rapids Placed on waivers September 5, 2023 GK Brady Scott LA Galaxy Option declined December 12, 2023 DF Jimmy Medranda Deportivo Cali Option declined December 12, 2023 DF Jake Morris Louisville City FC Option declined December 12, 2023 MF Isaiah Parente Ventura County FC Option declined December 12, 2023 DF Gustavo Vallecilla Colorado Rapids Loan expired December 12, 2023 DF Josh Williams Retired Out of contract December 12, 2023 MF Julian Gressel Inter Miami CF Out of contract December 12, 2023
Loans out Pos.PlayerLoanee clubLength/NotesBeginningEndSource GK Brady Scott Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate March 26, 2023 September 8, 2023 DF Jake Morris Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 9, 2023 June 18, 2023 FW Maximilian Arfsten Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 April 16, 2023 DF Jimmy Medranda Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 April 16, 2023 DF Keegan Hughes Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 July 25, 2023 FW Jacen Russell-Rowe Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 April 16, 2023 MF Sean Zawadzki Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 April 16, 2023 MF Yaw Yeboah Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 April 16, 2023 MF Isaiah Parente Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 September 3, 2023https://x.com/ColumbusCrew2/status/1698384230818914396#m DF Philip Quinton Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 16, 2023 October 1, 2023 DF Malte Amundsen Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate April 30, 2023 April 30, 2023 FW Kevin Molino Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate June 4, 2023 June 4, 2023 MF Luis Díaz Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate June 4, 2023 June 11, 2023 FW Josh Williams Columbus Crew 2 First team loan to affiliate June 25, 2023 June 25, 2023 DF Jake Morris Loudoun United On loan through the end of the 2023 season June 27, 2023 November 12, 2023 DF Keegan Hughes FC Tulsa On loan through the end of the 2023 season August 4, 2023 November 12, 2023
MLS Draft picks
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for Columbus Crew are listed below: Round Pick Player Position College/Team 114 Maximilian ArfstenFWSan Jose Earthquakes II127 Xavier ZengueDFDayton243 Clay HolstadMFKentucky
Awards +MLS Team of the MatchdayMatchdayStartersBenchOpponent(s)Link 2 Lucas Zelarayán D.C. United 3 Aidan Morris Toronto FC 5 Will Sands Christian Ramirez Aidan Morris Atlanta United FC 6 Lucas Zelarayán Aidan Morris Wilfried Nancy (Coach) Real Salt Lake 7 Mohamed Farsi Lucas Zelarayán D.C. United 8 Patrick Schulte New England Revolution 10 Lucas Zelarayán Inter Miami CF 12 Darlington Nagbe Orlando City SC 13 Malte Amundsen LA Galaxy 16 Lucas Zelarayán Cucho Hernández Colorado Rapids 17 Christian Ramirez Lucas Zelarayán Cucho Hernández Charlotte FC 18 Aidan Morris Cucho Hernández Chicago Fire FC 19 Alexandru Mățan Christian Ramirez New York City FC 21 Lucas Zelarayán Nashville SC 22 Yaw Yeboah Cucho Hernández New York Red Bulls 23 Darlington Nagbe Cucho Hernández Inter Miami CF 24 Patrick Schulte New York City FC 26 Lucas Zelarayán Portland Timbers 27 Aidan Morris Cucho Hernández FC Cincinnati 28 Julian Gressel Toronto FC 30 Cucho Hernández CF Montréal 32 Cucho Hernández Orlando City SC 33 Cucho Hernández Chicago Fire FC 36 Malte Amundsen Diego Rossi New England Revolution 37 Cucho Hernández Atlanta United FC 38 Darlington Nagbe Steven Moreira CF Montréal
MLS Player of the Matchday WeekPlayerOpponentLink 2 Lucas Zelarayán D.C. United 30 Cucho Hernández CF Montréal MLS Cup Cucho Hernández Los Angeles FC
MLS Goal of the Matchday WeekPlayerOpponentLink 18 Lucas Zelarayán Chicago Fire FC
MLS Player of the Month MonthPlayerStatsLink September Cucho Hernández 8 goals, 1 assist
2023 MLS All-Star Game Reserves MF Lucas Zelarayán MF Aidan Morris
2023 MLS Next All-Star Game MF Taha Habroune MF Cole Mrowka
Postseason Academy of the Year Ticket Sales Initiative of the Year
Crew Team Awards Most Valuable Player – Cucho Hernández Golden Boot Winner – Cucho Hernández Defender of the Year – Steven Moreira Kirk Urso Heart Award – Malte Amundsen Humanitarian of the Year – Darlington Nagbe Crew 2 Player of the Year – Noah Fuson Academy Player of the Year – Gio De Libera
References