Real Salt Lake chief soccer officer Kurt Schmid has been busy the last few months, signing a designated player, adding U-22 talent, and negotiating a club-record transfer of a rising star from MLS to Ligue 1 in France.

When RSL returns to the pitch Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes, it will be the first time in 18 months that Colombian winger Andrés Gómez won’t be a member of the Claret-and-Cobalt. That’s because the the 21-year-old has been transferred to Stade Rennes in France as part of a club-record deal valued at more than 10 million euros.

In his place, Salt Lake brought in a littany of attackers. The most direct compensation was Polish U-20 talent Dominik Marczuk, who was named Young Player of the Season with Jagiellonia Białystok.

The headliner, of course, is Portuguese No. 10 and new Designated Player, Diogo Gonçalves, whom Schmid admits was sought specifically with striker Chicho Arango in mind as the club tries to build on its top-four place in the Western Conference and push for trophies as MLS resumes play following the now-annual Leagues Cup break.

“Coming into the window, we had two broad goals: raise our floor and increase our depth, and raise our ceiling,” Schmid said. “I think we accomplished both of those goals, even with the loss of Andrés. It may look different at times … But I think the quality that we have to bring into games has been raised. From that standpoint, I think we’ve improved our ability to compete for trophies.

“Obviously, that’s always relative and other teams have strengthened themselves as well. That’s why we play the games, and we’re going to go out there and compete.”

After settling one of the wilder transfer windows in club history, the Salt Lake sporting director sat down with Salt City FC after the close of a wild transfer window that included 5 additions and 3 departures from Utah.

But first, Schmid had to catch up on some sleep. After traveling across the globe and around several time zones, he deserved a nap, right?

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HERRIMAN — Sometimes a team has to scout high and low for an impact player that can contribute immediately.

Other times, said player falls right into your lap — even accidentally.

Such was the case with RSL defender/midfielder Jasper Löffelsend. Salt Lake picked up the former Pitt fullback from Cologne, Germany with the No. 81 overall selection in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, and manager Pablo Mastroeni admitted Monday that he was likely headed for a Real Monarchs contract as a developmental defender following training camp.

Then fate intervened.

“We went back and obviously watched all of our preseason sessions from last year to see how we want to do things a little bit differently,” Mastroeni explained to a small handful of reporters after the club’s first training session Monday. “He was playing right back at the time — and then Everton (Luiz) jumped into camp. It was probably two weeks before our first game, where Jasper was actually going to sign with the Monarchs.

“But there were some paperwork problems with Everton, and he wasn't going to be available for around three weeks. So we tried in the middle when we went to Portland, and he was he was lights out.That's when he was offered a first-team deal, and that's when he started playing in the middle.”

Obviously, RSL had to be in the position to add a player of Löffelsend’s quality, by drafting the player, inviting him to training camp, and being willing to sign him in some role. But the club also had to be flexible enough to move around the right back-turned-central midfielder who finished his rookie campaign starting 19 of 30 matches and logging 1,631 minutes with a goal and five assists.

“A lot of these things, we think that we can control and that we are geniuses,” Mastroeni said. “But the truth of the matter is that the universe works in ways that we cannot understand or comprehend. And the only reason that Jasper was even given the opportunity was because Everton had paperwork problems.

“To take that further, the one thing that we talk about with players who aren’t getting a lot of playing time is to always be prepared for that opportunity. Jasper, being the professional he was, stepped in and didn't miss a beat all year. Fortune meets preparedness, and that equals good luck.”

Such a story illustrates RSL’s run with new signings and player development. The club’s most valuable asset — and one of the best fullbacks in Major League Soccer — in Aaron Herrera was recently traded to CF Montreal. Striker Sergio Cordova was recently recalled from his loan, headed back to Augsburg in Germany.

It may seem like the top players in RSL’s camp have left the club, and Salt Lake hasn’t replaced them. And while there may be some truth to that, the club has also added through its academy, through homegrown signings, and through a rare set of four MLS SuperDraft picks that included trading up to bring back former RSL Academy product Ilijah Paul — who was not eligible to sign with Real Salt Lake as a homegrown player because he did not play for 12 consecutive months for the academy before his 18th birthday.

But fate often intervenes in situations, whether in the case of Löffelsend, who is once again listed as a defender on RSL’s roster (though he could return to central midfield, coaches and staff members add) or in other signings.

RSL has been linked with Colombian rising star Andres Gomez, the 20-year-old winger who made 59 first-team appearances with Millionarios FC while notching 13 goals and six assists in 4,000 minutes.

Tom Bogert of the league’s official website has been reporting that Gomez and RSL are finalizing a deal to bring the starlet to Utah on a club-record deal under Major League Soccer’s new U-22 initiative. The transfer fee would reportedly be close to $4 million, eclipsing the previous record set when Venezuelan international Jefferson Savarino returned to RSL last May from Atletico Mineiro in Brazil.

But whether Gomez arrives at RSL, or the club unlocks another gem in recently signed newcomers Delentz Pierre, Luis Rivera, Amfery Sinclair, Emeka Eneli or Bertin Jacquesson — to say nothing of training camp invites Fernando Delgado, Bobby Pierre, Griffon Dillon, Luca Moisa, Gennaro Nigro, Benjamin Rodriguez, Zavier Gozo or Terron Williams, fate — or “the universe,” as Mastroeni says — has a way of making things work out the way they need to work out.

So stay patient. And remember that neither Rome nor MLS Cup contenders weren’t always built in a day.

NEWS & NOTES

RSL signed A GOMEZ on the first day of the preseason, but probably not the one Bogert had in mind, when it announced the signing of backup goalkeeper Tomas Gomez to a one-year extension with a team option for the 2024 season.

The 29-year-old Gomez, who spent all of last year backing up starting backstop Zac MacMath, was a 2015 third-round draft pick by Columbus before signing with San Jose as a free agent and eventually landing with the Rochester Rhinos in the USL Championship, where he won the league’s Golden Glove award given to the top goalkeeper in 2016 and 2017.

The club also announced that it had re-signed homegrown center back Erik Holt to a multi-year extension through the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026.

Thank you for spending part of your GAME DAY with Salt City FC, the official broad-strokes newsletter and podcast about Utah soccer, including Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs and the grassroots and college game on the Wasatch Front.

As you can tell by the audio above, we’re going to try to reach out into the audio space a bit with this newsletter. Yes, the podcast still exists, and we’ll be back regularly with “The Coach", that is Mark Davis, who makes us the only Utah soccer podcast with a national championship. But we’re also going to give you some other things, like interviews and audio snippets through Salt City FC Extra Points, which will run through the newsletter and should (hopefully) be on Apple Podcasts (et al.) soon.

This week, enjoy RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni preview the club’s home match against Toronto FC, the return of Bob Bradley to the RioT for the first time since leaving LAFC, and an injury update on several players who you probably haven’t seen much in a little while.

We know that two podcast feeds is probably a lot to ask. But if you want to go subscribe on your platform of choice, we’d really appreciate it (or at least leave us a favorable rating and review to help #GrowTheGame). But the most important thing you can do to support independent soccer journalism like this newsletter is to subscribe on Substack, the Substack app, and in your inbox to get these posts delivered directly to you.

Now with all that being said, let’s talk about RSL’s return trip to Utah after picking up a few favorable results on the road.

Home-field advantage

In the middle of what would otherwise be a four-match road trip — and a massive point on the road in the Rocky Mountain Cup opener — in April, Real Salt Lake hosts Toronto FC at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night (6 p.m. MT, KMYU).

That doesn’t mean the club is putting more or less emphasis on a home match to take the maximum number of points from the Reds’ trip to the Wasatch Front. But don’t expect the club punching above its weight that sits second in the Western Conference to go easy on Bob Bradley and Company, either.

“Obviously, this is the most important game of our season because it’s the next one we play,” Mastroeni said. “Big-picture perspective, we’re in the midst of a lot of road games. But I don’t think we throw everything at it just because it’s a home game. That’s what’s great about this group … the way we approach the road games are to come away with something. This game will be no different.”

Home games are crucial in Major League Soccer, not just for RSL but for every team. There’s something special about playing in front of your home fans, where winning often usually means playoff appearances at the end of the season (almost regardless of what teams do on the road, to be honest). But Mastroeni’s club seems to have the right mentality (there’s that word again) after a 3-1-2 start to the season, an 11-point total that has them just two points behind West-leading LAFC in the all-too-early standings watch.

“It’s been a crazy start to the season,” Mastroeni added. “But it’s really about not thinking past any one game, and focusing on the next. I think the fact that we get to sleep in our own beds, come out to our own fans, and play a game we haven’t had in a while which is a home game will be exciting for the players.”

Toronto FC is in something of an opposite spot, namely being winless in Sandy since a 2-1 victory in their first visit to the Beehive State back in July 2007. Since then, Salt Lake has won eight of nine with one draw every time the Reds are in town.

“It's never an easy place to go," Toronto captain Michael Bradley told the Canadian Press. "Obviously you deal a little bit with the altitude. And it's a team that regardless of how they're doing, the fans come to the stadium and create a good atmosphere.

"It's a game we're looking forward to. We know that they're a team that has started the season pretty well and so we're excited to try to go and take our football and see if we can continue a good stretch for ourselves."

Saturday will be the return of former Real Salt Lake homegrown defender Carlos Salcedo to Rio Tinto Stadium, where he made 25 appearances in an RSL uniform before moving to Chivas de Guadalajara in 2015. The 28-year-old Mexican international is now back in MLS, and facing his fifth match with former LAFC coach Bob Bradley at the team north of the border.

“They have a very good blend of experienced players right down the spine, and some younger players on the wide areas that are dynamic and fast,” Mastroeni said. “But they’re really comfortable playing forward, and can press a lot like LAFC did in their heyday.

“The onus is on us to get the ball down, play it behind, and make them think about playing forward.”

Welcome back, Bobby

The group is also getting healthier, with Nick Besler, Aaron Herrera and Bobby Wood featuring prominently in training Friday before the weekend. Wood, who has been plagued by injuries since joining RSL a year ago and most recently suffered a hamstring injury, seems in a particularly good place to see time Saturday against the Reds.

“Bobby’s been really bright,” Mastroeni said. “I think the time away, while it wasn’t good to not have him, it kind of charged his batteries. He had one full training session with us, and he was really bright, really dynamic, hungry.

“I look forward to seeing him tomorrow in the game, in some capacity.”

Besler could be a factor in the team’s center back struggles while the team is still down to just two: Marcelo Silva and 17-year-old Jaziel Orozco.

“He’s really the cover in that position at the moment,” Mastroeni said of Besler, who played 70 minutes with Real Monarchs in a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps 2 last week. “If we go to a three-back, Aaron can play the right side and so can Bes. But Bes is a great, experienced, multi-functioning player to have with the group. We’re really glad to have him back.”

Injury report

OUT: Zack Farnsworth (right ankle), Justen Glad (hamstring), Bret Halsey (ankle), Erik Holt (left foot), Johan Kappelhof (left calf), Jonathan Menendez (adductor)

QUESTIONABLE: Nick Besler (nose), Aaron Herrera (left calf), Jasper Löffelsend (hamstring), David Ochoa (right quad), Bobby Wood (hamstring)

HERRIMAN — On a night when the Utah Jazz were blowing a 17-point fourth-quarter lead to the Phoenix Suns, Utah’s lower-division professional soccer team was also finding another way to eke out a rough start to their season.

In the words of Olivia Rodrigo, the state of Utah’s featured headliner this weekend: “It’s brutal out here.”

In this case, there was no playoff chase or seeds to be decided; Real Monarchs are only three games into their inaugural MLS NEXT Pro campaign. Those things will come, but they’re not immediately important.

So what is the purpose of the Monarchs, the Real Salt Lake reserve team that is — by the club’s own admission — a bridge between the storied RSL Academy and the first team?

With a mostly full-strength starting lineup outside of goalkeeper Gavin Beavers, who was replaced by 16-year-old Blake Kelly in the back, the Monarchs took to the pitch Friday night before falling 3-2 to Minnesota United FC 2.

It was Minnesota’s first points of the season.

United put the clamps down early. CC Uche rose up (like a salmon, yada yada yada, eat your heart out Brian Dunseth) to convert a corner kick for a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute, and Aziel Jackson doubled the advantage following a mistake in the back that led to a wide-open goal just 10 minutes later.

The Monarchs were out-shot 5-3 before the break, with Kelly facing the only four shots on goal in a mostly lopsided first half. Things got better in the second half, but the first was … well, brutal.

“We weren’t clean with the ball, just trying to play out of the back,” Real Monarchs coach Jamison Olave said. “I don’t know if it was nervous or insecurity … but besides that, they had to fight in the second half. They got way better. We found better positions that we didn’t have in the first half, and it made things really difficult before then.

“Mistakes happen; they’ll make mistakes. But it’s about how we come back from mistakes. They reacted to that, and it showed in the second half.”

How important are the results when, like many teams in MLS NEXT Pro, the Monarchs are about more than a season — or even a trophy. The club famously starts the youngest in the league, a combination of teenaged homegrown signings, RSL Academy players, and MLS SuperDraft picks like captain Pedro Fonseca.

Does that make results like Friday any less Sour?

Hardly, says Olave.

“The results matter. We have to develop the kids’ quality, technically, tactically, and mentally we have to help them be competitive and to get to the first team,” Olave said. “We don’t just want to come in here and say to play better, to play off the back, to do fancy things — but lose the game.

“That’s not the message. The message right now is that the results aren’t going our way, but we need to keep building on that. At one point, playing that way, the results are going to come our way.”

His players — even the teenagers — are receiving that message, loud and clear. Good 4 U, but here’s where to be better.

The average age of Friday’s starting 11 was just 18 years old — and the 24-year-old Fonseca brought that average up quite a bit — with players like Jude Wellings and Christian Nydegger who will leave for the Generation adidas Cup this weekend to play with their age-specific academy sides.

“We’ve got a great system here. These players are ready for it,” said Nydegger, 18. “We’ve got a lot of boys flying out for the GA Cup in the morning, and they’re gonna go ball out down there. But they have the opportunity, and they are taking advantage of it.

“Luis (Rivera) is a 14-year-old center back; you don’t see that often. But they’re doing really well, and they’re ready for it. There are a lot of good kid our academy, and that’s what we’re about here: developing. We’re looking for those three points, but it’s also about pushing each other and getting to the first team. That’s the important thing.”

Eventually through practice, play and just time — something that can’t be rushed, pure minutes — the team will come together. And that means both positive results for the Monarchs AND development for the RSL first team.

For a group of players who have barely received their drivers’ license, that development may come slowly. But it will come.

Sometimes those good moments come from half-to-half. When they do, those good moments have to be accentuated. The players, most of whom are teenagers, can’t be left Wondering.

Bobby Pierre scored the first goal from the run of play for Real Monarchs, smashing a headed ball off a long setup inside the left post to pull within 2-1 in the 47th minute. Minnesota restored the two-goal deficit through Diogo Pacheco’s scorcher in the 76th minute.

Fonseca scored his third goal of the season for the Monarchs to cap regulation, finishing off a pinpoint cross from newly signed Nydegger with a flying header en route to the 3-2 loss.

“It’s bittersweet,” Nydegger said of the first assist of his formal pro career. “We would’ve rather come away with a point or three points. But it’s a good start. It was a hard-fought game. We’ve got some good players, the boys battled, and an unlucky mistake at the beginning cost us.

“Overall, we’re improving, getting better — and we’re putting goals away. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Which again, begs the question: how do you develop players like like Nydegger, Fonseca or Pierre — who is fresh off a call-up with the Real Salt Lake first team — while also keeping the focus on winning and earning results in a development-based league?

“We have to show them the right moments, the mistakes they make and also the goals we scored,” Olave said. “The goals that we conceded were personal mistakes; we lose the ball here, the third goal was switching the point of attack. We just didn’t know where we have to be.

“We have to see that … They played better in the second half than they did in the first half. That’s how we’re going to try to keep those guys. They’re still young; they have to keep learning and keep believing.”