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Columbus Crew SC's Gaston Sauro to miss all of 2017 season

Columbus Crew SC defender Gaston Sauro will miss all of the 2017 season following knee surgeries.

Sauro, 26, was the team's highest-paid non-designated player last season with a base salary of $585,000, but he appeared in only 13 games because of a left knee injury.

Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter told the Columbus Dispatch on Monday that Sauro would not play next season.

"It's going to be a number of surgeries he's going to get and he's going to be out for the year," Berhalter said. "That's our reality. It's a tough reality, but that's the way it is."

Berhalter also said Crew SC would work to restructure Sauro's contract while looking to sign a starting center-back this winter.