Rumour Mill: Vancouver to move for Aaron Maund (UPDATED)

UPDATED 22:50

Here is the full confirmation from Real Salt Lake that Aaron Maund has been traded to Vancouver Whitecaps.

In return, RSL are walking away with a third round pick in the 2018 draft, which if the season ended today would be the 13th pick of that round. Who knows what could happen with the pick, it could be just another item to trade away or perhaps something to fill out the Monarchs but either way, we wish Aaron all the best with his new club.

(Original story as follows)

It may be less that 160 characters but Sam Stejskal seems to think that 26 year old Aaron Maund may be heading for his second Canadian adventure with Vancouver Whitecaps.

This is an odd one because Maund was set to be the main centre back pairing with Justen Glad at the start of this season. However in the face of several large defeats Maund found himself slipping down the depth chart and allowing Chris Schuler, David Horst, Justin Schmidt and newcomer Marcelo Silva to slide into his place. While some of the troubles we had certainly were not the fault of the defence, reinforcements have been in need and somebody has to make space for that. While Maund has put on some great displays of heroics at times, he’s also been as guilty as anybody when it comes to personal errors. Playing against him as well is that, apart from Glad, he’s the highest paid central defender on the books. We’ve just got Silva in and his salary sitting on the bench (at best) isn’t smart for a club with needs elsewhere.

For Vancouver, they have just shipped 2014 draft pick and GA product Christian Dean to Chicago. They also have had Adam Straith training with them for more than a week. Straith has just been let go from FC Edmonton after a good stint with Fredrikstad FK, one of the most successful Norwegian teams in history.

As I type this, Province Sports Patrick Johnston has also reported the move on the back of the Dean news:

All things considered, I personally would say this is a good move for RSL. Maund didn’t really take to the role of starting centre back as well as was planned and he’s struggled to find form with the team. Whatever it is that’s not working, a fresh start might be a good move for his career as he still has a lot to offer the right team.

In addition, while another saga starts, one comes to an ends with news Yura Movsisyan will remain at Real Salt Lake.

While his fate still future still seems to be away from Utah, his present will be spent trying to find his form and work out the issues between himself and Mike Petke.

We’ll watch the Aaron Maund story closely and as soon as we hear anything more certain we will let you know, so check back with us for news of confirmation.