St. Louis City pays record $12M for Rapids' Rafael Navarro

The Colorado Rapids and St. Louis City set an MLS record on Wednesday when Colorado swapped high-scoring forward Rafael Navarro to St. Louis for $12 million.

That's the highest dollar amount paid for a player in an MLS trade. St. Louis City could be on the hook for $250,000 more depending on how Navarro performs and retain a sell-on percentage.

Navarro, a 26-year-old Brazil native, stacked up 38 goals in 97 league matches for the Rapids after joining the organization in 2023 on loan from Brazilian side Palmeiras. Colorado acquired him permanently in 2024. He was a designated player for the Rapids and remains so for St. Louis.

Navarro has tallied 10 goals this season, which is tied for 20th place on the MLS leaderboard and ranks four goals ahead of St. Louis' two leading scorers.

The trade also enables Navarro to move one spot up in the Western Conference standings as Colorado (10-11-1, 31 points) sits in seventh place and St. Louis (9-6-7, 34 points) is in sixth.

"We believe Rafa is entering the prime years of his career, and we are excited to bring him to St. Louis and get him integrated into the group as soon as possible," St. Louis sporting director Corey Wray said in a statement.

"Since I joined, Rafa has shown himself to be an outstanding player and an even better person," Colorado Rapids head coach Matt Wells said in a statement. "I've worked with some of the world's best, and Rafa has a mentality right up there with every one of them. It's been a pleasure to work with him day in and day out and I will continue to follow his progress closely for the rest of his career."

--Field Level Media