A brief history of RSL players who moved to Liga MX

If it seems a bit like Real Salt Lake has sent more its fair share of players to Liga MX, you’re not mistaken. Since the departure of Carlos Salcedo in 2015, the club has seen six players move there — but interestingly, the permanent move last night of Lalo Fernandez is the first transfer the club has seen to the top division in Mexico.

Let’s take a walk through

Lalo Fernandez, Tigres, Sept. 2017

Fernandez joined Tigres after a six-year stint in Salt Lake City and a longer one at the Arizona academy. We’ll see how his move turns out, but his praise of the club in the matter is definitely notable.

Christian Herrera, Pachuca, Feb. 2016

He’s very much an unknown, Christian Herrera, but he’s a tall, broad goalkeeper that came out of our academy. He never signed at Real Salt Lake, instead joining Real Monarchs. His buy option wasn’t exercised, and he ended up at Portland Timbers 2 this year on loan. It doesn’t look like he’s played a match for them to this point.

Luis Gil, Querétaro, Dec. 2015

Gil’s move has been an interesting one: He found playing time difficult to come by at Querétaro, and he’s now back in MLS, although it’s only on loan. He’s currently at Colorado Rapids, after Orlando City SC (where his former coach, Jason Kreis, is the head man) traded him there. Gil joined Querétaro on a free contract, but RSL did offer him a new contract at the time, meaning they retained his rights — which Orlando City then traded us a small sum of money for.

Luis Silva, Tigres, Dec. 2015

Following the completion of his MLS contract, Silva joined Tigres on a free deal. We’d only signed him in the summer of 2015 in exchange for Alvaro Saborio, and we knew at the time that it was likely he’d depart. Obviously enough, he came back, and now he’s quite nearly our leading goalscorer this year.

Sebastian Saucedo, Veracruz, Jan. 2016

Saucedo joined Veracruz on loan after a start-stop season as a late substitute in 2015. Following the completion of his loan, he rejoined Real Salt Lake, and he’s already been a far more effective player in the time he’s been given this year. He’s far from the finished product, but he’s still showing lots of promise.

Carlos Salcedo, Chivas, Nov. 2014

One of the more controversial MLS moves in recent years is Carlos Salcedo, who declared that he wouldn’t be accepting the option year in his contract, which Real Salt Lake had rightly extended. MLS was rumored to be holding out on his contract for a $1m offer, which never really came. He ended up moving there, and now he’s at Eintracht Frankfurt on loan after a stop-over at Fiorentina. The kid’s going places.