Photo credit: Pat Radigan / Footy at 5280
Club’s top goal scorer over past three seasons departs for MLS-record fee
Note: this piece originally appeared in inboxes on Sunday, Sept. 6. Sign up for Nourse’s Notes here to get first access to newsletter stories.
There’s not much about Rafael Navarro I could add to the discourse about how good he was for the Colorado Rapids, but no amount of praise will ever feel like enough.
The boy from Cabo Frio played for three full seasons in Commerce City before departing last week to St. Louis CITY for up to $12.25 million, an MLS record for an intra-league cash trade. In 97 regular season appearances for the Rapids, he notched 38 goals — good for third in club history — and 15 assists.
It’s hard to pick out a best or biggest moment, but what ultimately comes to mind was a couple of hugely important goals in the 2024 run to third place in Leagues Cup. His first in the competition was in the group stage against Club León, a last-minute equalizer to force penalties. A week later, he scored the opener against Toluca to help the Rapids advance to the quarterfinal.
Even though he was one of the club’s best-ever goal scorers, what fans and Rapids followers — myself included — will remember most is the way he conducted himself on and off the field.
On it, he never faltered from the namesake he earned as the league’s hardest-working No. 9. He was an absolute menace in the press and consistently gave opposing center backs nightmares. That hardly ever changed if it wasn’t working to his or the team’s favor, even if a dry spell stretched over multiple games.
His celebrations gave a peek into the type of person he was off the field. Some were silly. Some sent a message. Some were over the top. They were all original.
His English got marginally better over his time in Colorado, but he was always aided by a translator in press settings. That didn’t affect his sense of humor. I don’t speak Portuguese in the slightest, and you’d never guess by his facial expression he was ripping off a joke. As it was being transcribed in English, that’s when he’d play with his eyebrows and try his hardest not to crack a smile, right up until the room laughed at the punchline. Through peaks and valleys, Navarro was always his authentic self.
After his big move to the Western Conference rival, coach Matt Wells shared a margarita with the 26-year old before he traveled to his new city. That was the Sunday after he helped the Rapids earn their third-straight Rocky Mountain Cup. The following Thursday, Wells spoke incredibly highly of a player he’d only known for nine months or so.
“He’s right up there in terms of the relationships I’ve built with Son (Heung-Min) and these guys. He’ll be a relationship I’ll have for life. I’ll always follow his career,” Wells said. “Like I said to him: ‘Football’s a funny game, let’s see if I’m managing you again one day.’ I would absolutely love to do that because this is a guy with a ridiculous attitude, a ridiculous mentality. His work ethic and leadership is quality.”
Everyone who follows the Rapids knew this moment has been coming for the better part of two years, but it didn’t make the official announcement hit any less hard. More than any other outbound transfer I’ve covered, this one just made me feel sad.
As he said in a little social media intro video for St. Louis (in English, by the way), he will score many goals for CITY. Hopefully except for two nights a year.
