Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SANDY — Real Salt Lake's top decision maker, chief soccer office Kurt Schmid, spoke with the media Wednesday for the first time since last week's surprise trade that sent star striker Chicho Arango to San Jose.
"(Arango) came to us at a point in the offseason and asked us to help find a solution that would benefit him and his family and look for a fresh start," Schmid said. "We thought we found a solution that was really the best-case scenario for everybody."
The 29-year-old Colombian's productivity fell sharply following a four-game suspension last July. After that, he scored just one goal over the rest of the 2024 season.
"Chicho did a really good job of finding gaps to score goals ... but at times, operated outside the game model," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said after Schmid's remarks. "If we have somebody that is dictating the defensive line and really playing on that highest line at all times, it'll open up a lot more space for guys like Diego (Luna) and Diogo (Goncalves) to be more productive from a goalscoring perspective."
Pablo Mastroeni talks about Diego Luna's evolution as a leader pic.twitter.com/Cz9QODw7l0
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) January 15, 2025
Luna is away with the U.S. national team for the start of 2025, but Goncalves has been one of the highlights through three days of preseason play at Zions Banks Real Academy in Herriman.
The Portuguese attacking midfielder scored just twice in 2024 after arriving in August but said Wednesday he already had plans to be a bigger goalscoring threat in 2025 even if Arango — who scored a team-high 17 goals last season — remained with the team. The precedent is there, with Goncalves bagging 15 goals in just 38 games at his previous club in Denmark.
"He's looked very bright in preseason," Mastroeni said of Goncalves. "I think the aura to him is different, as well — clean slate — and he's been doing really well these last three days, so I anticipate a huge shift in the way he acclimates to the league and his teammates.
"He understands the way we want to play. He's a player that can score goals for us and help us create. He's a special player and we gotta put him in positions to be successful."
With just five weeks remaining until RSL's first game of 2025, the countdown has begun to find not only the team's new leading goalscorer but also a leader on the field as Arango wore the captain's armband for the vast majority of last season.
Kurt Schmid was asked if recent roster moves represent a shift in club philosophy and he said, "No," and that the RSL mantra continues to be "Winning together through development." pic.twitter.com/4dnetf03vZ
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) January 15, 2025
Arango is not the only outgoing player from RSL this week, however, with Schmid confirming earlier reports that goalkeeper Gavin Beavers is "on his way out," giving context to the move the club announced earlier Wednesday to bring 27-year-old keeper Mason Stajduhar to Utah from Orlando.
"We need to adapt and adjust," Schmid said of the move. "Bringing Mason in to be a backup, that's got some MLS games under his belt, so we can rely upon him as well. And we've got a couple young guys behind him now as well."
Schmid emphasized the club's motto of, "Winning together through development," as RSL goes through yet another transition period of losing and gaining players of different experience levels.
"The first word in that sentence is winning, right?" Schmid said. "So we want to win. Whether we win with 30-year-olds or 20-year-olds is not important to us, and it shouldn't be important to anybody else."
RSL opens the MLS season against Arango and the San Jose Earthquakes in California on Feb. 22.
