Crew coach Gregg Berhalter fielded a question about his center back depth Tuesday and listed a few names.

He discussed the newfound consistency of designated player Jonathan Mensah, the experience of veteran center back Josh Williams and improvements made by Alex Crognale and Lalas Abubakar, both of whom have earned valuable minutes during their rookie seasons.

One name — Nicolai Naess — was missing from the discussion, and in hindsight it was a telling omission. Less than 24 hours later, Crew SC announced it had transferred the 24-year-old Norwegian center back to Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie.

The official value of the transaction was not disclosed, but a league source told The Dispatch on Wednesday the Crew approximately doubled its investment in Naess in about a year since acquiring him from Stabaek in Norway.

Naess is expected to be back in Ohio for a couple days this weekend, but only to take care of some personal items. Then he’ll head back to the Netherlands, leaving Crew SC’s four remaining center backs to hold down the fort for the rest of the season.

Berhalter said yesterday the plan all along had been to eventually return Naess to Europe, but a deal to do so came together sooner than expected. Heerenveen inquired and made an offer for Naess last week, the teams negotiated and a deal was completed. Naess was not at Crew SC practice Tuesday and was in Holland on Wednesday night.

Improved depth and overall consistency at the center back position were large reasons for Berhalter feeling comfortable with making a move to sell Naess’ contract sooner than expected, he said. Abubakar took longer than Crognale to find his footing in MLS — he didn’t make his first start until July 4 at Minnesota — but progressed to the point where Berhalter felt comfortable with the four center backs he would have remaining on his roster.

“Lalas was I guess the last step that made us very comfortable that these four center backs could give us what we needed to close out the year and move into the playoffs,” Berhalter said. “So that made the move, although difficult, much more palatable.”

It also points to Berhalter being at least somewhat comfortable sticking with a 4-2-3-1 formation down the stretch.

For the six-week period in which Crew SC regularly rolled out a three in the back formation, it was important to have five center backs in the mix in case of injury or red card suspension. Having just four center backs on the roster suggests two-center back formations will be more likely from here on out, but Berhalter was not willing to admit as much Thursday.

“I wouldn’t say that (Crew SC won’t use three in the back). We still have an extra one. So if we have the three, we still have an extra one as a sub,” Berhalter said. “(Left back) Jukka (Raitala) can play left side of the center back three, so I would say we’re still open to it.”

Whether the Crew is open to making a move to add before the mid-September roster freeze date is to be determined. Naess’ transfer means the Crew now has 11 international roster slots for nine international players, and the Crew might have a better sense of which out-of-contract European players are available once the European transfer window closes this week and the dust settles a bit.

“Then desperation starts creeping in for those guys,” Berhalter said. “The European clubs can still sign them all the way through, but as things shake out and as transfers are made, there’s a defined body of players that are available.”

Still, Berhalter didn’t indicate an addition is imminent for now.

“I wouldn’t say we’re any more likely or less likely (than at the end of the MLS secondary transfer window),” he said. “If the right player is there, we obviously have roster space now and international space, so we’re in a good spot.”

Meram scores

Justin Meram provided some offensive fireworks Thursday in his return to Iraq’s national team, scoring in the first half of Iraq’s 2-1 win over Thailand in a World Cup qualifier.

“This win was for our country,” Meram told reporters after the game. “We have their support and when we score and we win, it’s for them.”

Iraq plays the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

Stoppage time

Midfielder Federico Higuain returned to practice Thursday after being sick and missing practice Tuesday. Forward Ola Kamara “took a little knock” in practice and appeared to have his lower left leg wrapped toward the end of practice, but is expected to be fine, Berhalter said.

aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD