The No. 1 is here.
LAFC seem to be overturning their goalkeeper corps this offseason, and they appear to have finally found an in-his-prime bonafide starter, acquiring Canadian international Maxime Crepeau in a trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday. In exchange, LAFC sent Vancouver “$1 million in General Allocation Money (GAM), plus a natural first round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft and conditional GAM if certain performance metrics are met. Whitecaps FC will receive $250,000 in 2022 GAM, $250,000 in 2023 GAM and $500,000 in GAM between 2023, 2024 and/or 2025. Vancouver also will retain a percentage of the transfer fee if Crépeau is moved to an international club.”
“We are thrilled to add a goalkeeper of Maxime’s quality to our roster,” LAFC Co-President & General Manager John Thorrington said in a team statement. “We consider Maxime to be one of the top goalkeepers in MLS. Like us, we know he is committed to winning, and his leadership and experience will contribute to our success on the field.”
Crepeau, 27, has played his entire professional career to date in Canada. Turning pro as a homegrown signing with the Montreal Impact in 2013, he seldom featured there, spending loan stints with the FC Montreal team that was the MLS side’s reserve team for a time as well as Ottawa Fury. In 2019, he was traded to Vancouver, and his career took off in earnest, as he became the starter and over the past three seasons established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in MLS, on a team that was mostly bad in that span.
While he missed significant time in 2020 with a thumb injury, Crepeau was a regular starter both in 2019 and 2021, and if he can stay healthy, he would be an immediate upgrade for LAFC’s defense and give youngster Tomas Romero time to mature while likely getting spot starts when Crepeau is on international duty with Canada.
This move is a blockbuster, and while the trades for other MLS veterans Kellyn Acosta, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Franco Escobar are all useful, Crepeau is the kind of goalkeeper who can win a few games a season for his team. LAFC have been screaming out for a GK like that, so addressing that issue is a major win.
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