Espindola Back

Although I missed practice today, I understand that Espindola made it into town over the weekend and participated in practice. As I understand he will likely be in the 18, but probably will not start against LA on Wednesday.

Edit: James Edward has some additional details on his blog at the DNews. He is also reporting that Rimando will be out 2-3 weeks, with Seitz getting the start in his absence.

"Striker Fabian Espindola went through his first training session with Real Salt Lake on Monday, and looked good enough to coach Jason Kreis that he'll likely be in consideration for the 18-man game day roster on Wednesday against visiting Los Angeles. Espindola said he's thrilled to be back with RSL, especially since he hasn't received a paycheck from his former club in Venezuela for the past three months."

Read More...

Summary only...

Espindola Updates

Look for some thoughts on tonight's historic match a little bit later, but I thought I'd pass along two tidbits related to Espindola's arrival:

1) according to Garth Lagerwey there is a decent chance that he could arrive before the Colorado match (next Saturday), but of course he wouldn't play in that match without having some training time with the team.

2) KIR has learned that loaning a player to a USL side DOES NOT provide roster spot relief. Therefore, Alex Nimo's loan does not free up a spot potentially allowing RSL to move another player down to a developmental spot. That also means that loaning another player to a USL team would not free up a spot for Espindola. With the quality of RSL's roster from top-to-bottom and various teams with needs around the league it's unlikely that the team will simply release a player. Look for a trade to occur in the next week or so.

Read More...

Summary only...

Davies/Espindola Notes

The roster moves related to the addition of Kyle Davies were finalized today. That means that Davies is officially added to the roster and in theory could be available for Saturday's match at Rio Tinto Stadium. I think that it's unlikely that he'll see the 18, but we were all surprised when Will Johnson started a week after joining the club last year.

Related to this, Real Salt Lake has also officially moved Raphael Cox to a developmental position in order to accomodate Davies.

There is no official word on the impending arrival of Fabian Espindola. I have heard some whisperings that he may be arriving next week, but have not confirmed that. I will try to get an official update on that topic. I have also not heard anything further on how RSL will accomodate Fabian on the roster.

Read More...

Summary only...

Espindola: New Details Emerge

Keepin' It Real was able to learn some additional details surrounding the return of Fabian Espindola. First of all, I was able to confirm from a second source that a deal is in the works and they are just waiting on paperwork to be finalized. The source also confirmed that the intention is to try to have him back with the club by the end of April. Here are some new details that have emerged:

• Espindola became available when his Venezuelan club, Deportivo Anzoategui, "quit paying him". No explanation on what exactly that means, however, apparantly it is somewhat common in South America that clubs will run out of funds and be unable to pay players.
  
• Espindola will not be coming on a "free", but the initial vehicle will be a loan arrangement. However, KIR has learned that there is a buyout after this year, and this time it is "a reasonable amount".
  
• A roster spot will need to be freed up to make way for Espy, but that does not need to be dealt with before he arrives and has his physical. It is believed that either a player will be loaned to a USL side or a senior roster player will be moved to a developmental spot.
  
• As James Edward reported, the deal was only possible from a salary cap standpoint because of restructuring Luis Escalada's deal. RSL was very fortunate in this regard, because Espindola and Escalada have the same agent and this made it possible to get this done.
• This is not a sign that the team does not have confidence in Escalada. In fact, the team is quite high on Escalada's abilities, and anxious to see what he can do in an MLS match, but the team needed additional depth and the opportunity arose for Espindola.
  

Read More...

Summary only...

BREAKING NEWS

This news coming from media day today:

Escalada
I was able to confirm that Real Salt Lake has filed a discovery on this player, and will own his rights if he comes to MLS. According to Garth Lagerway, the team likes this player, but he cautioned that until a deal is signed anything can happen when dealing in South America. If reports out of Ecuador are to be believed this deal is imminent and Escalada may soon join RSL. We'll keep you updated as this develops.

Espindola
Apparantly RSL still likes Fabian and wanted him back this season. They simply were outbid for his services by the Venezualan side that he is currently playing for. According to Lagerway, he is getting around double what he made last season, so "we weren't even close". However, his contract in Venezuela is only through June, and Lagerway hinted that "we'll keep tabs on him". RSL would retain his MLS rights if he returned to the league.

El Khalifi
This isn't a done deal (his trial) but Garth seemed to think this would happen. It's been reported that he will join the team in California. This is believed to be one of "a dozen or so players" that RSL is targeting. According to Lagerway, the team is trying now to see them all play in person, either with us or on their current teams. The team will then narrow them down and fill "one or more roster spots".

Findley
I started by asking him about his Brondby trial. Without being prompted, he clarified that it wasn't a trial, and that he was there just to train and see what it's like as he feels like in the future he'd like to give Europe a shot. He also wanted to get a jumpstart on the preseason as he wants to earn a starting spot for RSL. He acted perturbed about people calling it a trial. I heard him make the same comments to other reporters. Has he been reading Big Soccer? He also indicated that he received positive feedback from the side from Denmark.

Joy
Ian is back, for now. He indicated that he was looking for the right offer in Europe with the right club but didn't find it. I asked if that was still a possibility, and he said "anything is possible", and that's largely "in Garth and Jason's hands". Is this dependant on him maintaining a starting role? Ian messing with us? Just a generic, harmless statement? Who knows.

Read More...

Summary only...

Fabian Espindola to Deportivo Anzoategui

RSL TAKES A STEP BACK WHEN IT COMES TO FORWARDS

(pictured above we see Deuchar, Espindola appropriately with their backs to us)

The same day that we learn of forward Kenny Deuchar's departure, we learn of details of Fabian Espindola's departure. The combination leaves Real Salt Lake with a dearth of forwards.

Courtesy of a tip by reader JK3, and via an article on EnOriente.com it appears that Fabian Espindola will be playing with Venezuela side Deportivo Anzoategui. According to the article and my attempt at reading an automated translation, it appears that he is hoping to be able to play next Saturday.

Although RSL has drafted some attacking players, we assume that more help is on the way. Stay tuned to Keepin' It Real for offseason acquisition developments. The next two weeks may be very active in this regard as Europe's midseason transfer window comes to a close.

P.S. If there is a Spanish speaker out there who can help with the translation of the article above, please share.

Update: Another brief reference to Espindola in El Tiempo.

Read More...

Summary only...