- Zavier Gozo, 19, shines with Real Salt Lake scoring five goals this season.
- His performance earned him MLS 'Team of the Matchday' honors four times.
- Gozo aims to move to Europe by summer, attracting interest from top clubs.
SANDY — He's only 19 years old, but Zavier Gozo is already having the type of season capable of making many stars' career.
The West Valley City native who grew up in Eagle Mountain scored his fourth and team-high fifth goals of the season Wednesday night in Real Salt Lake's 3-0 win over the Houston Dynamo, the first MLS brace in his young career that earned him "Team of the Matchday" honors for the fourth time from the league's weekly award selections.
How many more will come is up for debate, though not because Gozo isn't capable of more multi-goal matches.
His time in MLS may be approaching an expiration date.
The U.S. youth international has vaulted into contention for Mauricio Pochettino's roster will the United States hosts the 2026 World Cup as part of a coalition with Canada and Mexico. While no call-up is guaranteed, such a feat would be unprecedented because Gozo has yet to be called up by the senior national team.
If nothing else, Gozo is the exact kind of player who could help the national team, capable of playing higher up the pitch, out wide on the wing, or at wing back as the multi-positional attacker has adapted under Salt Lake manager Pablo Mastroeni.
But the scary thing, Mastroeni notes, is the teenager is just starting to scratch the surface of his potential.
"I think he's got a ways to grow, and I say that with how much he's impressed me with his growth," Mastroeni said after Wednesday's match that moved RSL to 7-4-1 with 22 points and fourth place in the league's Western Conference as the club approaches the midway point of the MLS season. "Some of the decisions in the first half weren't going his way, and he doubled down on it and he went again on it. He lost a lot of confidence in himself by doing that.
Once the scoring started, we couldn't be stopped pic.twitter.com/2DYgUQTOyu
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 15, 2026
"There's an understanding not only of what your decisions will do to the team, but also that making the same decisions and getting the same results will also take away your confidence. So I think halftime was a really good reset for him, and the growth in his mentality of being a young player and not getting down on yourself … for me speaks volumes about what his potential could be."
The biggest question of Gozo's potential with Real Salt Lake, though, is how much longer he'll be with the club.
The teen has gone openly stated that he'd prefer to make a move to Europe — where clubs such as England's Aston Villa, Spain's Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, Germany's Hoffenheim and Lyon in France have inquired about a multi-million dollar transfer — as early as this summer, after MLS takes a month-long break for the World Cup.
"I think obviously I would like to continue with RSL for the next two months and then in the summer window, obviously, I would like to go to Europe," he told the MLS Countdown crew on Apple TV. "That's been my dream for as long as I could remember. So I think that's the perfect time for me to take the next step, and if I have that opportunity, I 100% want to take it."
How that scenario plays out could also be subject to the club. RSL's breakneck start to league play has the club keen on contending for trophies, and past lessons such as the sale of former star winger Andres Gomez to Stade Rennais in France two years ago for a then-club record $11 million fee could pose cause for pause among the front office.
Replacing Gozo won't be easy when that move comes, either. But Aiden Hezarkhani's full-time debut season that has netted two goals in 11 appearances, including six starts, provides optimism for a a Salt Lake side that has also used Polish international Dominik Marczuk and Utah native Zach Booth — on loan from Eredivisie side Excelsior — in similar roles.
Real Salt Lake hasn't stood in the way of players' European ambitions recently, and face another likely such scenario sooner rather than later with fellow star Diego Luna. But the timing of such a move will be the question RSL front-office staffers must juggle while Mastroeni charts a potential playoff push for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
The regular season continues Saturday against Rocky Mountain rivals Colorado. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT at America First Field in Sandy.
