For quite some time, there likely wasn't a player and club more synonymous than Wil Trapp and the Columbus Crew. Trapp was the local boy turned club captain, the homegrown product that made it for his hometown club. The Crew regularly competed for playoff spots since the midfielder's breakthrough in 2013 and Trapp emerged as a U.S. men's national team regular while occasionally donning the captain's armband.
But things change, sometimes very quickly and sometimes slowly over time. In Trapp's case, it was a bit of both.
After seven years with his hometown Crew, the 27-year-old midfielder was traded to Inter Miami on Friday for $100,000 in General Allocation Money and an additional $200,000 if certain incentives are hit. As a result, Trapp will swap the relative comfort of home for something wildly new in Miami, a city and club that couldn't be more different than the one he's leaving behind.
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With Inter Miami, Trapp will be a building block for an expansion team entering its first MLS campaign. It's an experience unlike anything he's seen so far - and unlike anything he ever could have seen if he'd stayed with the only club he had ever called his own.
"You just have to connect back to what you love about the game," Trapp told Goal on Tuesday. "Ultimately, yes, it's a different place, a different style, a different city, all those things, but ultimately, you want to play soccer, right? You want to perform and do your best. You want to win and you want to help other people reach their dreams as well. For me, that was something in Columbus that, because it was home, because it was comfortable, you lose sight of that at times. The shake-up, the freshness, something new, almost organically allows that to happen."
He added: "Of course it was an amazing time in Columbus. It wasn't an easy decision by any means but I think it was the best one for my career and moving forward."
For quite some time, it appeared that change was coming. Trapp had been linked with moves abroad, with a reported offer from Blackburn Rovers coming in 2018. The midfielder says it was an "open secret" that he hoped to pursue European options and that the Crew knew that as well.
But the January transfer window is fickle and, sometimes, takes turns you don't expect. Trapp says Miami's interest first popped up just a few days before the deal was finalized, and given the unique nature of Miami's project, Trapp was interested. From there, it all moved pretty fast. On January 31, the two sides announced the deal and, that night, Trapp was in Miami meeting his new teammates. It may not have been the European move he expected, but it's one that presents a set of challenges that he couldn't find at many other clubs.
For the Crew, the deal offered a chance to shake things up. With the newly-added Darlington Nagbe and mainstay Artur, head coach Caleb Porter has a strong midfield in place and the chance to build a new identity following the departures of Trapp and club legend Federico Higuain. The club can also use the $593,746 in salary freed up by trading Trapp as well as the $100,000 received to make further moves.
Porter, who coached Trapp at the University of Akron, called the decision "mutual", but it was emotional as well. After seven years, Trapp's time with his local team was over, the end of an era.
"What hit me most was leaving," Trapp said of his departure. "We were in Cancun with Columbus, but leaving preseason with them and having to say bye to some people I've known for my entire professional career, some of my closest friends, having a few moments to say a few words to them as I was leaving, was emotional. But, at the same time, I've been very happy since I set foot here in preseason with Miami. It's been 100 miles per hour, but it's been so enjoyable from the first moment. I've had a blast."
In the days since, Trapp has trained with the team under manager Diego Alonso. Throughout his four training sessions, Trapp has found Alonso's system to be aggressive and ball-oriented. It's been a hallmark of his teams in Monterrey and Pachuca, teams that have won the Concacaf Champions League.
But it's one thing to say that's the system and another to actually practice it, and Inter Miami, Trapp says, will practice it. The midfielder says Miami's style is already taking shape in these early training sessions, even as the club continues to add to an ever-changing roster.
While the system will be somewhat different and new, Trapp's role will be somewhat familiar. Joining a midfield that may soon include Mexican star Rodolfo Pizarro, Trapp will be asked to be a playmaker in a deeper role. It's a role not far off from what was asked of him when Gregg Berhalter was in charge of the Crew. During that period, Trapp rose from homegrown prospect to USMNT regular and occasional captain.
And, with Berhalter now in charge of the USMNT, Trapp believes he's in an environment that will keep him in the picture. The 27-year-old says he is "always" conscious of the national team, even more so with World Cup qualifying around the corner. The U.S. have a number of talented central midfielders in the player pool right now, and Trapp sees a move to Miami as one that was necessary to help him remain a part of that pool.
"A big part of this decision as well was stepping out of a comfort zone," he said. "It's something where there is no safety net, and I have to grow, not only as a player but as a person. I've been in Columbus and Ohio pretty much my entire life. That what I mean when I say I'm excited about stepping out and doing something different for my career and for my family.
"You grow most when there's tension and there's pressure. It's an opportunity to build towards some of those moments in the future."
It's a match that seems mutually beneficial. With Miami, Trapp gets the fresh start he desired and a chance to be pushed in ways he's never been pushed. And, in Trapp, Miami gets a former All-Star that has played in and won in MLS.
Those types of players are key for expansion teams. The first-year teams that succeed are the ones that start with a foundation of those that know what to expect. MLS is different, quirky. It takes people that understand those quirks to keep things together. Trapp is one of those players. Lee Nguyen, Luis Robles, Roman Torres, AJ DeLaGarza and Juan Agudelo are too. There's a backbone there, and Miami still expect to build around that backbone with young stars like Matias Almedya, Julian Carranza and at least one more big signing.
That is the bulk of Trapp's new task: guiding a Miami team that has never done this before. Many of these players have never played in MLS and very few have ever played together. It's a monumental challenge for any team, and perhaps even bigger for a team with the starpower and expectations of Inter Miami.
This is the fresh start Trapp was after, the uncomfortable feeling he yearned for by leaving home for what he believes will be something special.
"We have to understand that it won't be perfect," Trapp said. "There will be ups and downs and the process of building an expansion team is never a perfect thing that happens right away. Understanding that every day, it's about us as a group taking on the ideas of the coach and developing them to be successful. The bones of it, the foundation that's been laid, is painting a good picture for what's ahead."
He added: "You adapt to whatever comes. It’s quite a crazy little unfurling of events. They came back and wanted to make the trade, I was very excited for the opportunity to be a part of something building, something new, something that’s a process but is going to be done in all the right ways."