The Columbus Crew lost one of the league’s best forwards. The New England Revolution picked him up.

Both teams believe that they will be better off because of it.

The Crew and Revolution announced a trade on Thursday morning that sent Designated Player Kei Kamara from Columbus to New England in exchange for General Allocation Money, Targeted Allocation Money, a first-round draft pick in 2017, a second-round draft pick in 2018, an international roster spot, and a percentage of any future transfer fee.

The deal came four days after Kamara had a public outburst against Crew teammate Federico Higuain and two days after the 31-year-old striker stuck by his comments despite being given a club-issued suspension. Kamara’s absence means the struggling Crew will have to make due without their target striker, who scored a league-high 22 goals in 2015, but the club believes it will be better off without him.

“I can understand potential frustration from fans, but rest assured we feel like that this is going to make us stronger as a team,” said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter. “It will give us the flexibility to affect this group not only this year, but for years to come with the type of deal, how it was structured. The second thing is this is a group, this is a locker room that we really believe in. These guys were hand-picked and we feel it’s a strong group and we’re going to be just fine.

“It’s the strength of the collective that makes our playing style special. We see most of our goals, most of our good play comes from four, five, six players being on the ball and being influential. It’s not about one guy. It’s never been about one guy. I think this puts it all in perspective for us.”

Berhalter added that the decision was not an easy one for the Crew. He said that he and his staff deliberated over the move a significant amount in the recent days, and that the players that remain on the roster will have to step up in order to make up for loss of Kamara.

Berhalter also stated that the decision to part ways with the veteran forward did not just come down to this weekend’s incident, which started when Higuain refused to step aside to allow Kamara to take a penalty kick in a 4-4 draw with the Montreal Impact.

“We’ve been evaluating this,” said Berhalter. “This is something we had to decide for the culture of the club, what direction we were going to go in, but it was not based on last weekend alone.”

Crew captain Michael Parkhurst echoed that sentiment.

“I’d say that for the most part Kei is a great teammate,” said Parkhurst. “Kei and I had a good relationship while he was here. It wasn’t just the one-off incident. I’m sure Gregg has addressed that, and this is a team-first culture and that’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s going to be for now and for always.

“That’s why they made the move and we support the staff.”

Higuain spoke to the media on Thursday for the first time since being ripped by Kamara over their lack of chemistry. The Argentine playmaker said that the entire ordeal was a “bad moment” for him, but he refused to talk about Kamara specifically.

Instead, Higuain chose to put the focus on wanting to help the Crew improve on their disappointing 2-4-3 start to the season.

“I have nothing to say about (the incident),” said Higuain. “Only worry right now is that Columbus Crew is not in the playoffs. On my mind is try to win games, put this team where I believe that we have to be.”

Also struggling right now in the Eastern Conference with a 1-3-7 record, the Revolution believe they have bolstered their squad in a big way with the addition of Kamara. The Sierra Leonean joins the talented likes of Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, and Diego Fagundez in the club’s attack, and adds a dimension due to his size and other qualities.

“His goals speak for themselves,” said Revolution winger Teal Bunbury, who was previously teammates with Kamara at Sporting Kansas City. “He’s great in the air. You can kind of either play him up top or even out wide as well, so he’s pretty versatile. He’s going to add more of that aerial battle, that physicality, and add depth more depth to our team, which is going to be great now that we have some home games coming up and some games where we need to get wins and get points.

“This is a great addition to our team.”

The Revolution and Crew have yet to meet this season, meaning that their three Eastern Conference battles are still on the schedule. Those games will draw plenty of eyeballs, including the first one that takes place on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Kamara will surely be the center of attention then, especially since both teams believe they have improved after Thursday’s headline-grabbing trade.

“We’re always trying to get better,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “Whether you add from international market or from within the league, you’re always trying to add a piece. I feel like we were able to add a really good piece.”