The Montreal Impact continued a busy six-day stretch with another trade to shore up their veteran leadership on Monday, dealing for Sporting Kansas City midfielder Davy Arnaud.
The Impact shipped defender Seth Sinovic and allocation money in the deal, less than a week after they picked up Sinovic from Sporting KC in the MLS Expansion Draft last Wednesday. Sporting left the young defender unprotected for the draft and the Impact swooped in, but it appears they may found Sinovic expendable after a recent deal for Seattle Sounders defender Tyson Wahl came through last week.
Now they’ve got a veteran leader in the form of Arnaud, 31, who had spent his entire 10-year career with Sporting and the Kansas City Wizards. His numbers trailed off last season, however, as Sporting began to load their roster with younger players, and Arnaud’s 16 starts were the fewest of his career since his second year in the league in 2003.
The 2011 season was also the first in which Arnaud failed to score a goal since his rookie year, after scoring five goals or more every year from 2008-10.
Still, Arnaud brings 240 regular season games to Montreal and five trips to the postseason, including Sporting’s run to the Eastern Conference Championship in November. He’s ranked 14th among active players in regular-season appearances.
Sporting KC get back a talented young defender in Sinovic, who started 20 games for Sporting last season. He began his career with the New England Revolution in 2010.
