In the six months since new owners of Crew SC brought on board a new president and coach, the club’s behind-the-scenes evaluation and roster reconstruction is beginning to show at the opening of the secondary transfer window.

The Crew already had made a trade and two international signings before the window opened Tuesday, and the team probably will stay busy until the window closes Aug. 7. But the Crew, even at 5-13-2, won’t make a move to make a move.

A league source told The Dispatch that it’s known that the Crew is looking for attacking midfielders, specifically another winger, but nothing is “imminent.”

The source also said the club has been targeting players to fortify its depth, similar to the deal the Crew struck for forward Romario Williams.

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This is consistent with what the Crew has preached all season, even through dealing with injuries and international call-ups that have depleted the roster.

After acquiring midfielders David Guzman and David Accam in the primary transfer window, the Crew has addressed a couple of its needs with the signings of winger Luis Diaz — a young designated player the club believes can blossom into one of its top players — and goalkeeper Eloy Room, who has loads of European and international experience and didn’t require a transfer fee to replace Zack Steffen.

To get Room or any additional international player on the roster, the club has to open up or acquire an additional international roster spot. Coach Caleb Porter was confident last week that wouldn’t be an obstacle.

The Crew won’t shell out the type of money that brought designated players such as D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney, the Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Portland’s Brian Fernandez to MLS.

The Crew is still looking at getting an immediate star — probably a younger player — but the club could opt to wait until the offseason so the player can make an easier transition.

After the season-ending injury to Federico Higuain, Porter said the club had long identified that it needed a replacement for the 34-year-old central-attacking midfielder at some point, so it wouldn’t change much.

“We're looking to add pieces this summer and in the offseason, and one of those pieces was a pocket winger that could also play the 10 so there's some versatility there,” Porter said on May 31. “We don't want to rush into anything.”

Bezbatchenko told The Dispatch in an interview for the Soccer Speakeasy podcast last month that Higuain’s injury forced the club to move more quickly on finding his replacement, if the Crew does not re-sign Higuain when his contract expires at season’s end.

“Just like any player, what happens if they're not back?” Bezbatchenko said on the podcast. “You have to be ready for that. Obviously the probability of that is very high at this point, given that this is a significant injury.”

Bezbatchenko, technical director Pat Onstad and Porter inherited a roster that had made two consecutive playoffs but didn’t get major additions in the two transfer windows in 2018.

Onstad signed left back Milton Valenzuela on a permanent transfer while acting general manager in the offseason, and that has the potential to pay dividends in the club’s future, assuming Valenzuela returns to form next season from a torn ACL.

As was the case in the past two offseasons, the club has to acquire more players who can score. Every indication has been that any move the Crew makes in this transfer window will have the future in mind.

The season has “not gone as planned, but our plan hasn't changed,” Porter said last week. “We're going to keep growing. We'll continue to add more and more pieces, but we're never going to avoid getting better."

Dante Washington hired

The Crew announced the hiring of former player Dante Washington to its front office as director of team strategic partnerships and business development.

Washington will be responsible for youth player-development outreach, alumni relations, establishing a mentorship program for Crew SC Academy players and other business ventures the club can pursue with the city, a club release said.

jmyers@dispatch.com

@Jacob_Myers_25