Real Salt Lake set for more movement after Saborio, Silva trade

Real Salt Lake is poised for more transfer movement during this transfer window after dealing Alvaro Saborio to D.C. United in exchange for Luis Silva.

In fact, RSL technical director Craig Waibel — who has been talking about bringing in a player since before the start of the transfer window's opening — told Salt Lake Tribune reporter Chris Kamrani today that the trade facilitates a potential move.

Asked Waibel if there was any hesitancy dealing for Luis Silva, who is out of contract at the end of the year. #RSL pic.twitter.com/AZaQORaow3

— Chris Kamrani (@chriskamrani) July 16, 2015

That's partly because Silva makes a good chunk of change less than Saborio, giving RSL the wiggle room it needed to make a move for a player. Despite the presence of the new targeted allocation money rule in MLS, RSL was right up against the wall with its salary budget. Buying down the contract of one designated player to just under the limit isn't enough to shift that, because while the team could then bring in a new designated player making even more, it still needs to have the salary cap room.

This move accommodates that need, and now Real Salt Lake is back to looking at the big picture. We don't yet know what that will mean, but Waibel said in a press conference today that it could allow the team to bring in a player who could be with the team for years to come.

So who's coming in? That's the big question. Waibel has said before that the team is in contact with a number of players and has extended offers. Whether that means one player comes or multiple is, at this point, difficult to say — but whatever the case, Real Salt Lake has made its biggest mid-season move already since arguably 2007, and with more to come, 2015 might start looking even more like its eight-year counterpart. And yes, that includes the team's fortunes so far.