It was bound to happen eventually. Many hoped it would be prolonged as much as possible.

But if the Crew was to keep striving toward the consistent championship contender it wants to become, it felt like this was the right time to cut ties with Federico Higuain.

“These decisions we don’t take lightly,” Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said. “He is an absolute legend.”

Monday, Bezbatchenko made it official that he, technical director Pat Onstad and coach Caleb Porter decided not to re-sign the Argentine designated player.

Whether or not that was the right decision can be debated, though this move didn’t come out of nowhere for Higuain would be entering the 2020 season at age 35 off a season-ending ACL injury. What can’t be debated is the fact that the Crew have to nail their signing of the next central attacking midfielder to take over for Higuain.

That’s seems to be the top priority in the offseason as the club is prepared to go get a designated player capable of being the spark Higuain was since he signed in 2012.

"It's certainly at the top of the list,” Bezbatchenko said. “Fans come out to watch a player like Pipa, and can we find a new version and a version that Caleb wants to play in Europe or in South or Central America? That's what we're going to try to do this offseason.”

For Porter, the central attacking midfielder — number 10 — has to be the soul of the attacking phase of the game. He needs to be able to make the final passes, score goals when he has the opportunity, keep and distribute the ball and be a defensive presence at the top of the Crew’s defensive formation.

"You need a chance creator, No. 1,” Porter said. “A guy that's going to run the attack and be involved in everything that we do in the attack. You need production.”

Porter said the age of the club’s eventual replacement doesn’t matter. He wants the team to get younger, but won’t sacrifice quality just to have a younger player.

When Higuain went out with an injury, Pedro Santos stepped in to the role and thrived. It was Santos’ best season in his entire professional career and he emerged as a core piece for the future of the club. Santos’ contract option was picked up for the 2020 season.

It’s not Santos’ natural position. Porter prefers to play him on the wing and expects him to be just as creative as he was this season. With whichever player the Crew signs, the ones pulling the triggers are significantly considering how that player fits alongside Santos.

“You have to have good chemistry and good balance,” Porter said. “That's an underestimated part of putting a winning team together.”

Bezbatchenko said the decision to move on from Higuain was primarily made because the team is moving from a possession-based offense to a style with a high dosage of pressing and counter-pressing to win the ball higher up the field and playing in transition. The new player would have to fit that vision.

Right now it’s unknown what the next step will be for Higuain. He expressed interest to Bezbatchenko that he still wanted to play for the Crew and Bezbatchenko has already had discussions with Higuain about returning to the club in a non-playing role.

“I don't think you ever replace Pipa,” Bezbatchenko said. “At least like for like.”

Since Higuain’s injury, the process of finding his replacement was sped up and started almost immediately. By the preseason, it should be clear who that player is.

jmyers@dispatch.com

@Jacob_Myers_25