Dániel Gazdag wanted to finish his career with the Union, until he couldn’t

"It makes me very happy that I’m playing for a for a club that is actually playing for titles," Gazdag said at his introduction with the Columbus Crew on Friday.

Former Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag (right) officially joined the Columbus Crew on Friday, and was given his new jersey by general manager Issa Tall (left).Read moreDrew Horton / Columbus Crew

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published April 11, 2025, 3:12 p.m. ET

It took a while to clear all the paperwork, but the Union’s sale of star attacking midfielder Dániel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew finally became official on Friday.

The Union received $4 million in cash, and will get up to $500,000 more from performance incentives, as previously reported.

But if it were solely up to him, the deal wouldn’t have happened — and he said so bluntly at his introduction in Columbus.

“It was an amazing four years at Philadelphia. I enjoyed it a lot,” Gazdag said. “It would have been nice to stay there for the rest of my career. But after I found out that it’s not possible, and we got this offer from the Columbus Crew, I decided that I want to leave, and I want to join this club and play for winning.”

What Gazdag omitted was that he and his agent wanted a new contract with a significant raise from the $1.757 million he makes now. This is the last guaranteed year of the 29-year-old’s contract, with a team-held option for 2026, and talks regarding a new deal started during the offseason.

Union sporting director Ernst Tanner didn’t want to go as high as Gazdag’s side wanted, so the path toward an exit began.

”Since joining the Union, he has been an integral part of the team’s success, and we are deeply grateful for everything he has done for the organization,“ Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. ”At this time, we believe this move is in the best interest of both the club and [the] player. The financial flexibility it provides will allow us to further invest and strengthen our roster while also providing opportunities for other players who we are confident can step into the role."

Tanner added that the move “allows Dániel to pursue what makes the most sense for him in the next chapter in his career. We know Dániel will continue to find great success, and we wish him nothing but the best.”

Columbus general manager Issa Tall said, “the second we were aware of his availability, he was a no-brainer.” It likely helped that the Crew were flush with cash from the $16 million sale of forward Juan “Cucho” Hernández to Spain’s Real Betis in February.

“Everything actually happened really fast,” Gazdag said. “I found [out] about the Crew’s interest last week, like last Wednesday, Thursday, and a week later, I’m here. … When my agent first told me that the Crew was interested [in] me, I got very excited, and I told him that I think that would be a good move for me.”

He wasn’t complaining about the team’s history of trophies, either, including the 2020 and 2023 MLS Cups and last year’s Leagues Cup. Columbus made last year’s Concacaf Champions Cup final, too, losing to the Pachuca squad that knocked out the Union in the round of 16.

“Since I’m in the league, [over] the last four years, they won so many major titles,” Gazdag said. “So I think it makes me proud to join a club like the Columbus Crew. And it makes me very happy that I’m playing for a club that is actually playing for titles, for winning titles every year.”

The Hungary native told the Hungarian-American soccer news website JenkiFoci (“YankeeFooty” in his native language) that “I expect to get a new contract” from the Crew. He also said that if he scores against the Union in this season’s matchups — May 10 at Subaru Park and June 29 in Columbus — he won’t celebrate.

“It will be very emotional to play in Philadelphia, and it’s only a month away,” he said. “I owe it to the club and the fans. I hope the fans will welcome me back with open arms when I return.”

The Union don’t plan to spend their windfall on a high-profile replacement immediately, wanting to see if their existing players step up: Quinn Sullivan, now-starter Indiana Vassilev, and high-ceiling prospects CJ Olney, David Vazquez, and, of course, Cavan Sullivan.

“We are against doing something immediate even if we might have an opportunity,” Tanner said. “We want to see how that plays out, and when somebody is going out, there is always a chance for somebody going in. We have the quality in our roster, and enough good players to fill the spot.”

But Tanner was clear that if a move is worth making when the summer transfer window opens, he’ll be open to it.

“If it doesn’t turn out to be the right choice, then OK, we might need to go out in summer and add a player,” he said. “At least we have the flexibility right now to do it.”