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SALT LAKE CITY — The offseason is a time of change in sports, and Real Salt Lake shifted theirs into high gear just days before the team reconvenes to begin preparations for the 2025 season.
RSL began Friday by announcing the departure of attacking midfielder Matt Crooks to Hull City in his native England just a year after his arrival in Utah.
It was apparently the first domino to fall, as reports followed of star striker Chicho Arango's move to San Jose later in the morning and 19-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Beavers heading to Denmark as the sun began to set.
Beavers hails from Henderson, Nevada, and started playing with the RSL Academy and Real Monarchs at the age of 16 before signing a homegrown player contract in 2022, and making his first MLS appearances in 2023. He split starts in goal with 33-year-old Zac MacMath for most of 2024 and seemed destined to be the club's long-term answer at keeper.
"RSL are expected to sign a senior goalkeeper this winter, to go along with Zac MacMath," MLS insider Tom Bogert said after reporting the Arango and Beavers moves. "(RSL) will look to add another center forward with their open designated player spot following Arango's departure."
The club was contacted for a comment on the Bogert reports, but none was given.
These were not Utah's first changes of the offseason, however. Just before the holidays, the club made several draft-day moves, trading for New York forward Elias Manoel and sending forward Anderson Julio to Dallas for defender Sam Junqua.
RSL also took the second-most players in the draft with eight — including two goalkeepers — and brought in 21-year-old winger Tyler Wolff from Atlanta United early in December.
More moves are sure to come in the six weeks remaining before the club's first 2025 match against Costa Rican side Herediano on Feb. 19 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
RSL's streak of no trophies extended to 15 years in 2024 following a third consecutive first-round MLS Cup playoff exit in November, and it appears the club was unwilling to stand pat and "run it back" with the same group.
RSL's 2025 preseason officially begins on Monday, though midfield stars Diego Luna and Emeka Eneli will be away with the U.S. men's national team until Jan. 22.
With Luna and Eneli gone and its captain reportedly heading to California, RSL will look to veterans like MacMath and defender Justen Glad — who have both worn the captain's armband on occasion — to hold head coach Pablo Mastroeni's ship steady in uncertain waters.
