A long-time stalwart has departed Stade Saputo.

CF Montréal announced on Monday that veteran centre-back Rudy Camacho has been traded to the Columbus Crew in return for $400,000 in General Allocation Money, split evenly across 2023 and 2024.

Camacho’s exit was first reported by AppleTV analyst and CF Montréal reporter Vincent Destouches and confirmed on Sunday night by CFM insider Jeremy Filosa before being made official on Monday.

“CF Montréal thanks Rudy for his six years of service to the club,” said vice-president and chief sporting officer Olivier Renard. “We wish him success in this next chapter of his career.”

Camacho, 32, has been a great servant to CFM after joining in March 2018 from Belgian club Waasland-Beveren. In six seasons with the club, he played 152 matches across all competitions, winning the Canadian Championship in 2019 and 2021 and being named the club’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.

It had been reported that Camacho may instead join Canadian rivals Toronto FC. Destouches suggested that Montréal received offers from both the Reds and the Crew for the man whose contract was set to expire at the end of 2023.

However, while it briefly sounded more likely that he would end up at BMO Field than in Ohio, Camacho has ultimately reunited with his former CFM head coach Wilfried Nancy in Columbus.

Columbus president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said that “Rudy’s skillset and leadership provide a solid veteran presence to our backline, especially given his familiarity with coach Nancy and our team’s desired style of play. A high-calibrE player and consistent starter for CF Montréal in recent years, he is another strong addition to our club as we continue to improve the roster during the summer window.”

For Montréal, meanwhile, it’s a significant loss, as Camacho has been a key cog in Hernán Losada’s side this year, missing just three games all season. However, with Colombia U20 centre-back Fernando Álvarez arriving from Liga MX club Pachuca in recent days, the time had come for both Camacho and Montréal to move on.