Trades help Whitecaps upgrade at centre back
The Whitecaps are shuffling their cards at centre back, sending Christian Dean off to Chicago while adding Aaron Maund from Real Salt Lake.
The Caps sent a third-round pick in the 2018 MLS draft to Salt Lake to obtain Maund.
For Dean the Whitecaps are getting $50,000 of General Allocation Money, an additional $50,000 of conditional Targeted Allocation Money in the event Dean starts 12 or more 2018 regular season matches for the Fire, as well as a percentage of any future transfer fees for Dean, which is on a sliding scale and expires following the first transfer window of 2020.
As far as experience goes, Maund is an upgrade on Dean.
Maund has started a dozen times for RSL this season, his fifth campaign in Salt Lake. He’s played 64 games for RSL.
Maund became expendable in Salt Lake after the team added Marcelo Silva last month to partner with Justen Glad as the first centre back pairing. He hasn’t started a game since July 4, but immediately becomes a key depth player for the Whitecaps.
With Kendall Waston’s recent absences as a Gold Cup call-up followed by immigration paperwork issues, Andrew Jacobson was again enlisted as a stopgap centre back. He did well enough, but has shown this year that midfield is his best position.
“(Maund) adds experience and depth in the centre back position and will push the players we already have for minutes,” Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said.
After being named RSL’s best defender in 2015, a fractured got ended Maund’s 2016 season early. This year he had played the most matches of any RSL defender and was leading the team in a number of key categories, including clearances, aerials won, and blocks.
Maund played for the U.S. at the 2009 U20 World Cup alongside Sheanon Williams and Brek Shea.
Dean might have been a dependable third string centre back, but he’s had recurring fitness problems over the last 18 months. Last year Dean broke a bone in his foot on the eve of the regular season and spent the entire campaign on the sidelines.
He has struggled again this year with injury after making a nice start to the year. He started three times in the opening weeks of the season but hasn’t been seen since.
The Whitecaps have had Adam Straith training with them for more than a week. The Canadian international centre back trained with WFC2 on Wednesday.