Crucial attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic departed the club late in the season, but the front office have restructured on the fly

Colorado Rapids did not want to let Djordje Mihailovic leave. After all, he was their star player, the center of the franchise. A creative No.10 with a true eye for goal, he was the spark, the guy that made things tick.

But he walked into Team President Padraig Smith's office all the same, and made it clear: he wanted out. Smith didn't want to sell him, of course. And there were conversations, he said. But Mihailovic's mind was made up. Their main man was out the door. That was early August, and it left the Rapids in a difficult situation. The guy who was supposed to lead a postseason charge had one foot out of the door - effectively waiting for the Rapids to execute the right deal to move him on. And even in those circumstances, Smith was eager to come to an agreement that would keep him there until at least the end of the campaign.

"We felt it was going to be in his best interest and our best interest at the time that he did stay, and at least saw out the season," Smith told GOAL. "But he had made his mind up."

There were fewer than three weeks left in the transfer window. They did not necessarily plan to have to buy a attacking fulcrum. Meanwhile, they were in the thick of a playoff hunt, picking up pieces here and there, but confronting the fact that they might have to navigate the final few weeks of the season without the guy they rely on the most.

Fast forward to now, and the results are a little inconsistent. But the outlook is far sunnier in Commerce City - a Denver suburb where the Rapids call home. Mihailovic is gone. But they continue to focus on USMNT talent as the core of the team, with a shiny new franchise player in Paxten Aaronson, and the pieces of a plan that might just come together in time. What might have been a disaster has instead pivoted. The Rapids aren't perfect - they might not even make the playoffs - but they have reacted wonderfully to what, for most teams, would be a season-ruining scenario with an eye to building a strong future for the club.