TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Real Salt Lake have acquired defender Toni Datkovic from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki, the club announced Wednesday. He has signed a two-year contract with RSL.
Datkovic, 27, was most recently on loan with FC Cartagena in the Spanish second tier, where he made 19 appearances. He joined Aris Thessaloniki last year, though only made four appearances with the club before heading out on loan. He has extensive experience in Spain, Croatia and Slovenia during his career.
“Toni is an excellent addition to our defensive core,” GM Elliot Fall said in a club statement. “He will provide another experienced, athletic option to our roster. We can’t wait to get him on the ground in Salt Lake and acclimated with the group.”
Datkovic also has one appearance with the Croatian national team.
“We want to welcome Toni to the team and bring him into a good crop of center backs. We think he can continue to help us grow and push the team further and fits the profile of our roster as a positive and humble player,” head coach Freddy Juarez said. “He comes with a good pedigree and is a talented left-footed center back that can help us in distribution but also raise the quality of defending. Anytime we can add players that can help us grow in our style of play and push competition in our team, it’s a good thing.”
The defender is a natural center back who will boost Juarez's options at the position, alongside the likes of Justen Glad and Marcelo Silva.
Real Salt Lake have taken nine points from their first six games so far in 2021. They are tied in sixth on points at this early juncture of the season and return to action on June 18 against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
