Will Sergio Cordova return to Real Salt Lake?
Plus, Royals return, Dunny named to Apple TV roster, and Gómez arrival expected this week
Wasatch Soccer Sentinel has been live for almost a week now, and we’ll be transitioning this newsletter to something supplementary to what we’re doing there. It won’t simply be repetition of the content (we will, of course, talk about that content), but instead, we’ll look to provide something beyond what we’re doing.
That might come in the form of interview and press conference transcripts, notes on our reporting, or something else entirely, I’m excited to explore what that looks like.
This week on Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
The fee to bring Utah Royals back? A cut-rate $2–5 million according to a Wall Street Journal report, and they’re planning to return in 2024. We’re extremely excited.
We’ve all been waiting to hear Brian Dunseth’s name in the MLS/Apple TV deal. We’ve finally heard that today.
Carlos Andrés Gómez is expected to arrive in training this week. But Jefferson Savarino’s arrival is still pending the resolution of visa issues.
We’ve added some better styling around team-specific categories, so you’ll see Utah Royals stories appear with a big Utah Royals tag on the photo. This may shift around a bit, but it’s a start. We’ve also added Utah Royals to the navigation up top.
We’ve been approved in Google News, so go search out Wasatch Soccer Sentinel if you’re a Google News user. I’m not sure how often that updates, but hopefully it’s regularly?
Is RSL still interested in Sergio Cordova?
I think the answer is: maybe? Probably? I don’t know that anything happens here, but when the coach and general manager both say the door’s not closed, it’s worth considering.
Elliot Fall last week:
We're certainly not going to close the door on anything. Sergio played an important role for us last year, he was a good player for us. Obviously, as you said, we had him on loan from Augsburg. It's one of those things where the delta has to make sense for everybody. We have engaged and made offers and had interest in bringing him back, but we haven't been able to get a deal across the line that made sense on both sides. We certainly aren't going to close the door there, but we're not going to put all our eggs in one basket, we're going to continue looking at other options, and that's where we are right now.
Pablo Mastroeni talked about it on ESPN 700 last week as well when Bill Riley asked if the door was closed on Cordova returning:
I think it's cracked open whilst pursuing other options as well. In this business, you're competing with the rest of the world — it's not like you're just competing with MLS teams. You're competing with every other soccer league, every soccer team in the world. In this business, we like to say, it's zero percent until it's 100 percent done. There's no 75. Once you think you're really close, another team comes in and offers $5 million more than what you offered to another team, and they're going, well, we're going to send you to Turkey. The deal fizzles just like that. It's cracked open while still pursuing other avenues.
We at Wasatch Soccer Sentinel are aiming and intending to cover Utah's professional soccer scene in its fullest, with our two primary points of focus being Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals. If you are interested in writing for Wasatch Soccer Sentinel, please send us an email at info@wasatch.soccer.