Real Salt Lake acquired DeAndre Yedlin in a trade with FC Cincinnati, the club announced Thursday.
Yedlin is a former U.S. national team star and represented the U.S. in two World Cups. He becomes the 10th Real Salt Lake player to play in a World Cup, according to the club.
“RSL is an historic club in MLS, with an amazing reputation around the League,” Yedlin said, per a press release.
What DeAndre Yedlin said about joining RSL
Yedlin has multiple ties to Real Salt Lake.
He played with both Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman, was coached by Jason Kreis and knew chief soccer officer Kurt Schmid while they were both with the Seattle Sounders.
Yedlin had high praise for head coach Pablo Mastroeni.
“Pablo Mastroeni’s reputation is excellent with his track record of success on and off the pitch. The culture they’ve built there is outstanding,” he said.
Yedlin has already arrived in Utah and will train with Real Salt Lake on Thursday and Friday, making him eligible to play in Saturday’s home match against Minnesota.
“As a visitor, I always hated to travel there — it’s a tough place to play, at altitude, against a high-energy team. You know you’re gonna get a tough game, against a team that plays good football and is fun to watch," Yedlin said. “RSL has always had what it takes to compete. It was exciting to hear of their interest in me becoming part of the setup at RSL, and something my family and I needed to explore.”
The MLS veteran began his career in his hometown of Seattle with the Sounders. He has 218 appearances in the league as well as 187 while playing in Europe.
“From one homegrown to another, it has been great to see how Justen Glad has done there, building a career at his boyhood club,” Yedlin said.
He also praised Diego Luna, who started making a name for himself with the national team at this summer’s Gold Cup.
“Diego Luna is a guy who has blown up on the scene by being an extremely hard worker and willingness to work on both sides of the ball. When your attacking guys and technically proficient players buy in, as Diego has, with some grit and a chip on his shoulder, it inspires the whole group to do the defensive work and never stop fighting,” he said.
Up next, Real Salt Lake hosts Minnesota United FC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
