Chiumiento transferred from Whitecaps to FC Zurich

Davide Chiumiento is heading home. Just hours before the Vancouver Whitecaps were set to face Toronto FC at BMO Field Wednesday night, the club confirmed that it has transferred the Swiss midfielder to FC Zurich. “Davide has been a very good player and ambassador for Whitecaps FC during his time with the club,” said Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie in a statement issued by the club. “This is a great opportunity for him to be closer to his family while continuing his soccer career. We would like to thank Davide for all of his contributions to the club and wish him the best of luck in the future.” “I have really enjoyed my time in Vancouver and I would like to thank the fans, the club, and my teammates for all of their support,” said Chiumiento. “It’s been two great years but now I look forward to the next chapter of my career, which will fortunately bring me closer to my family.” Chiumiento scored twice and set up nine goals last season. He had five assists in 2012. Chiumiento’s finest couple of games of the season came against FC Edmonton in the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal, where he set up three goals against the Eddies. It was on the strength of those performances that Chiumiento fought his way back into the starting lineup. And that was the thing about Chiumiento. Despite a sizeable cap hit, he was never a player you’d describe as a sure-fire starter in MLS. Chiumiento arrived inAfter Teitur Thordarson was let go by the Whitecaps in spring of 2011, subsequent coaches — Tom Soehn and Martin Rennie — looked to have had a love-hate relationship with the Swiss midfielder. Yes, he had great vision and passing ability; but a questionable work ethic often placed him outside of the starting XI after Thordarson left. But Chiumiento did come with a US$300,000 salary-cap hit. That means about half of that cap damage is freed up to use for the rest of the season (obviously, the Whitecaps paid about half of Chiumiento’s salary before the transfer). The Whitecaps and MLS will also get an undisclosed transfer fee. RELATED: California snoozing: Whitecaps, Chivas go scoreless (CLICK) Le Toux, Whitecaps, beat down FC Edmonton’s brave resistance (CLICK)