A lot of RSL news

So I have had a few technical issues over the last few days that have kept me from posting, but for Real Salt Lake there has been some interesting developments. Perhaps the biggest news is that Yura Movsisyan has signed a contract with Randers FC in Denmark that begins on January 1st of next year, what is still unknown is if the team will try to get Yura out of his current contract prior to next year, my understanding is that they are negotiating with MLS and RSL about that.

I think this is a great opportunity for Yura, I don’t expect that this move is about money as Yura likely would have gotten a nice raise from RSL in the off season, but I would have to believe the draw of playing in Europe and the exposure you get to other European teams as well as the fact that most of the USMNT play in Europe (heck a bunch don’t even start for their teams), is a smart move for a young player with a lot of talent. You also will get a much more experienced coaching staff playing in Europe, as well as exposure to UEFA Cup and Champions League level of tournaments.

So either way we will be heading into next year down two strikers from our opening day roster as we have lost the recently released Luis Miguel Escalada and now will be losing Yura, so with both of them departing RSL will have just over $135,000 in cleared cap room. That isn’t a huge amount on the international scene but in MLS terms it could get you some interesting talent, Kenny Cooper, Macoumba Kandji, Robbie Rogers, and others all are in that price range. So one has to wonder what moves will RSL make this summer? Last year we brought in Will Johnson, Clint Mathis, and Robbie Russell and each of them have contributed hugely to RSL’s successes last year and so far this year.

If we are committed to the 4-3-3 then there is a huge need for more players that can fill in the offensive roles both in the midfield and up top, we still have a bit of a surplus on defense and I would not be surprised to see RSL using Chris Wingert, Jamison Olave, and Ian Joy as trade bait for teams that are struggling on defense, perhaps a team that is doing some rebuilding of their defense.

In other RSL news there is a press conference tomorrow about the Xango Cup match against Club America and some big news about sponsors, the rumors I hear is that Xango will be announcing an extension to their current jersey sponsorship of RSL, which should bring in some more money to the coffers, the Jet Blue deal, and stadium sponsorship deal with Rio Tinto, all of which should provide RSL with much needed funds for this transfer season. Perhaps the money could be used to help RSL move closer to considering adding a DP to their roster, could the extension or new sponsor be tied to a player move to be announced soon?

I would expect one more major announcement in the next week or so, perhaps a incoming player in time for the July 24th match against FC Dallas, or something the week of the All Star Match on the 29th of July. One thing is sure this is going to be a hot couple weeks for RSL.

I am going to try and recover my match review from my other computer, hopefully I can have that posted by later tonight or tomorrow morning.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

This entry was posted on July 8, 2009 at 12:21 am and is filed under The soapbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.