The San Jose Earthquakes have traded midfielder Darwin Ceren to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for Allocation Money. The team announced the move on Friday, capping off an incredibly busy week for General Manager Jesse Fioranelli and the Quakes front office.
Officially, the Earthquakes will receive $100,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) and $75,000 in Targeted Allocation Money, with a $50,000 GAM bonus based on Ceren’s play in 2019.
NEWS: #Quakes74 trade midfielder Darwin Ceren to @HoustonDynamo, acquire Allocation Money: https://t.co/D3xhkmZ0W7
We want to thank Darwin for his time with the club and wish him the best of luck in the future. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/1pdaH6THrU
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) January 19, 2018
San Jose Earthquakes Trade Darwin Ceren to Houston Dynamo
The move serves to clear up what has become a very crowded midfield position for San Jose. The team signed midfielder Anibal Godoy to a long-term contract extension earlier this summer, solidifying one starting midfield role.
Ceren became expendable this week, when the Quakes announced the signing of center back Yeferson Quintana on a one-year loan from Uruguayan champions Peñarol, with an option to buy at the end of the season. Quintana will most likely take over the defensive role held last season by Florian Jungwirth. Jungwirth played the entirety of last season as a center back, but is now free to move to his natural position in the midfield.
Ceren thus became the odd man out in the center of the park, and his move away from San Jose does not come as a surprise. He spent a season and a half with the team, after being traded from Orlando City for attacking midfielder Matias Perez-Garcia.
In that year and a half Ceren has been a solid if not spectacular player, making 28 starts in 33 appearances as an Earthquake, and tallying two assists in the 2017 campaign.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Earthquakes selected the right pair for their midfield moving forward. While Ceren has been consistently decent, Godoy has fluctuated more wildly between excellent and poor. He had a strong start to the 2017 season but cooled off significantly by the end of the year. He also has a penchant for match bookings that can sometimes leave the team in difficult spots.
How he and Jungwirth pair as the team’s new starting midfield will be something to watch as the season gets underway in March.
