Columbus adds a Chilean to the attack
The Columbus Crew moved into the South American market on Wednesday, bringing in forward Gonzalo Tapia on loan from Brazilian side Sao Paulo. The deal runs through the 2027 MLS sprint season and carries a purchase option, which tells you the Crew see this as more than a short-term patch.
Tapia is 24 and arrives with a body of work already behind him. He has 30 goals and 10 assists across 172 senior appearances, a return that reads as steady rather than spectacular, and the kind of profile Columbus tends to bet on and develop.
General manager Issa Tall framed the move around competition. “Gonzalo is a talented and hard-working player who brings quality and competition to our attack,” Tall said. “We believe he has the attributes to make an immediate impact.”
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A well-traveled 24-year-old
The path here is worth tracing. Tapia came through Universidad Catolica in Chile between 2020 and 2024, spent 2025 at Argentina’s River Plate, then joined Sao Paulo before this loan. Three countries in barely two years is a lot of movement for a forward still short of his prime.
His international record sits at three goals in 12 caps for Chile since debuting in 2024. That is a modest sample, but it puts him in the national-team picture at an age where regular MLS minutes could push him forward rather than sideways.
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