When the Crew traded forward Dominic Oduro to Toronto FC in exchange for midfielder Alvaro Rey, Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter emphasized that one of the biggest benefits of the deal was the clearing of salary cap space and the resulting roster flexibility.
With the news of today's mutual agreement to terminate Rey's contract, that flexibility has been enhanced even further. Berhalter confirmed that the mutual nature of the contract termination freed the Crew of Rey's salary commitments, while emphasizing that the Black & Gold are well-positioned to be busy during the transfer window.
"We expect to be active. This is what we're looking to do," said Berhalter. "We're devoting a lot of time and energy into a signing that's going to be exciting for the club, and it's going to help performance on the field."
Berhalter said that the club now has a "good chunk" of cap space available for additional signings, and the Crew boss stressed that all positions would be looked at, even hinting at multiple reinforcements.
"That's the beauty of it. We have roster spots and we have cap space. We can address our entire roster right now. With injuries that hit and with some positions being decimated, we're going to be active in a couple of positions."
In the end, today's news gives the Crew additional flexibility moving forward, and the club is working hard to utilize that flexibility.
"We thought [Rey] could have played a role with our organization, but in the same respect, it's about life and it's about him being with his family in this time period. We allowed him to go back his home country and in the meanwhile we freed up some cap space to make a move, and that's going to be important moving forward."
