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The Philadelphia Union have traded starting left back Jordan Harvey to the Vancouver Whitecaps for an undisclosed amount of allocation money.
Harvey, who has started almost every single game in Union history, was a member of the Union's vaunted defensive back four. So far into 2011, the Union have given up only 16 goals, which puts them as the second third best defense in terms of goals against.
The former Gatorade National Player of the Year joins a Whitecaps team that won just its second game of the season against the Union last month. Despite already having Alain Rochat, Harvey will likely slot into the left side of the defense with the Whitecaps, sending Rochat back to his natural center back position.
Keon Daniel, Michael Farfan and Gabriel Farfan are the only three Union players left on the team's roster that have played time at full back this season.
A five-year veteran of MLS, Harvey started 16 Union matches for 1,241 minutes of action this season. Originally acquired from Colorado in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft, the native of Mission Viejo, California, started 45 of his 46 appearances for Philadelphia for a total of 3,861 minutes of action. This included one goal and two assists during his spell with the Pennsylvania-based outfit. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound left fullback was Philadelphia's leader in minutes played in 2010 with 2,613.