TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Loan signing
Real Salt Lake announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Everton Luiz (pictured above, center) on Monday, via a yearlong loan from Italian Serie A side SPAL. He will join RSL in preseason, pending receipt of his ITC and visa.
“Over the past several years we have restructured our roster with a young core. Now is the right time to complement our young core with more experienced players in order to challenge for greater results. Everton is the type of player that we feel can assist in helping us mature beyond being a competitive team and into one that challenges for bigger and better things,” RSL GM Craig Waibel said in a club release.
“He fits into the culture we are creating and is the type of player that our fans will enjoy watching as his on-field commitment is a standard they will surely appreciate. His playing resume speaks for itself and his addition will allow the coaching staff to explore more options in squad selection each week.”
A well-traveled defensive midfielder from Porto Alegre, Luiz first broke through with Ponte Preta and played at Palmeiras and CRB in his native land before making the leap to Europe with Swiss side Lugano. He also plied his trade in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade before joining SPAL a year ago, helping the club avoid relegation from Italy’s top flight.
His resume also includes Europa League action, a league championship and two Serbian Cup titles with Partizan and a brief loan stint in Mexico with San Luis. Overall, he’s made 246 pro appearances across all competitions, scoring 10 goals along the way.
“MLS is a league that is growing a lot and becoming more and more competitive. I am coming to a structured club that is full of potential to go further,” Luiz said in RSL’s release. “I’ve reached my dream of playing in one of the biggest leagues on the planet and share the pitch with many of the best players. I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted and I’m looking forward to new challenges and saw in Real Salt Lake a huge opportunity to keep growing in my career.”
RSL open their 2019 campaign at Houston on March 2.
