Heaps, Bilello explain how the Charlie Davies trade happened

It was late Wednesday night when the Philadelphia Union contacted the New England Revolution to propose a trade for Charlie Davies. With mere hours left in the MLS summer transfer window, Revs officials didn't have much time to make a decision. As conversations began to unfold, it was quickly determined that Davies would need to approve of any potential trade.

"This was something we didn't go seeking, there was no shopping him around, there was none of that," head coach Jay Heaps told Boston Herald Radio on Thursday. "Something came to us and [it was] something that we had to present. But ultimately, it would’ve been full veto power and it was presented like that."

The Revs wanted to give Davies a voice because of the year that he's had. In March, the Davies family welcomed twin boys that were born three months premature. The twins, named Rhys and Dakota, spent nearly two months at Brigham Women’s Hospital in Boston before going home in June.

Soon after that, Davies suffered an adductor strain while playing against the Portland Timbers. The ensuing MRI revealed that the striker had a rare form of cancer called liposarcoma. This past Saturday, Davies announced that he had a clean bill of health. One day later he returned to the field, coming on as a substitute against Orlando City SC.

With all of this in mind, the Revolution brass included Davies in on the trade talks.

"I don’t know in the history of our club if we’ve ever asked a player if he was okay with the trade before we did a trade. This might be the only time we've done it," Revolution president Brian Bilello told Boston Herald Radio on Thursday. "But I think, as a club, if this wasn’t going to be good for Charlie then I don’t think there was anything that anyone could have offered us to make us make that move."

Davies did give his approval, sparking a move that could lead to more playing time while also reuniting him with close friends Alejandro Bedoya, Chris Pontius, and Maurice Edu.

With the trade done, the Revs locker room had to be informed of the news. As expected, some were sad to hear that the team had lost such a big personality.

"When you’re presenting it to the group, obviously there’s going to be some long faces, but we deal with it straight on and let them know that it is difficult," Heaps explained. "We have to deal with it and say, look, we are going to be missing something here but now more guys have to step up and be ready for our next challenge."

The trade wasn't easy for anyone that's a part of the Revs organization. Heaps stated that he "loved coaching" Davies, while Lee Nguyen called him a "brother to all of us." The news led to a wave of responses from teammates, friends, and fans.

That said, there are plenty more games left to play in the 2016 season. While the Revs might not be able to replicate what Davies brought to the team, they do believe that have enough depth to put together a championship run.

"We feel that right now we have a very deep team, especially when we get everyone back and fully healthy, which they’re very close," Heaps said. "With Juan Agudelo, Femi Hollinger-Janzen, Diego [Fagundez], Kelyn [Rowe], Teal [Bunbury], and Kei Kamara, we have an attacking group that we were able to keep together. So, we feel that we have good depth there."