Report: Nashville SC trade Dave Romney to New England Revolution

Nashville SC have traded away a core piece of their roster, sending center-back Dave Romney to the New England Revolution. First reported by The Bent Musket‘s Seth Man, Romney will link up with Bruce Arena, his former manager with the LA Galaxy.

Sources confirm: The New England Revolution have agreed a deal to sign center back Dave Romney from Nashville SC.

Source adds the deal is for $525k GAM.

Romney, 29, was a constant with NSC for three seasons, starting 86 of a possible 90 matches. NSC made the playoffs each year. https://t.co/GFS8ZIooJd pic.twitter.com/d4Xwc4JVQ5
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 5, 2023

Romney, 29, was acquired from the Galaxy ahead of Nashville’s debut season in 2020 for $275,000 in GAM. The defender, a rotation player in Carson, immediately became a fixture for the ‘Yotes, playing every minute of their first 59 matches before missing his first match due to injury. Overall, Romney started 94 of Nashville’s 101 matches during his spell in Music City and played the most minutes of any outfield player.

While Romney is certainly the most central player Nashville have traded away in their three seasons as a club, the rationale behind the move adds up. New England’s offer was enticing for Nashville, who will make $250,000 in GAM from the trade over Romney’s initial acquisition costs.

More importantly, it makes room for Jack Maher to take a step forward into a larger role. Maher, 23, was selected second overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. He’s a talented player, and one who would start for plenty of other teams around the league, but found himself stuck behind Romney and Walker Zimmerman in Nashville.

With Romney gone, here's a best guess at Nashville's depth chart. They have numbers at center-back, but no longer have a starting-caliber third option. #EveryoneN pic.twitter.com/rsg9Lv4Kow
— Ben Wright (@benwright) January 5, 2023

Maher is highly rated by Nashville’s staff, and made 30 appearances (23 starts) in 2022. There won’t be much, if any, drop-off with a center-back pairing of Jack Maher and Walker Zimmerman, and while trading a long-term starter to a potential conference rival is never ideal, the move is in keeping with Nashville’s approach to roster building and makes room for a promising young player to move into a bigger role.