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With the offseason in full swing, transfer rumors are always swirling for teams across the league. Soccer pundit Ives Galarcep let another one loose on Twitter today, stating that Orlando City is currently working on a deal to sign Real Salt Lake left back Danilo Acosta.
While the move may seem out of the blue on the surface for RSL fans, it shouldn’t be that big a surprise considering how little Mike Petke put Acosta on the field last season, for reasons that still remain unknown. Acosta only played in 12 games — 10 starts — for a total of 896 minutes in 2018, which pales in comparison to his 2017 season which saw him in 17 games with 16 starts, totaling 1,411 minutes.
In addition, RSL just recently picked up left back Donny Toia in the MLS Re-Entry Draft. Toia spent two seasons with Orlando, and while he was featured heavily in 2017 with 30 appearances, he only played in four games this past season. Between that move and Aaron Herrera’s exceptional season as the main starting left back for RSL in 2018, there just may not be any room for Danny Acosta in Salt Lake moving forward.
Here is Galarcep’s tweet in full:
I'm told Orlando City is also working on a deal to acquire former #USMNT Under-20 left back Danilo Acosta from Real Salt Lake. #RSL figured to move Acosta after he was benched in favor of Aaron Herrera, and after the team recently acquired Donny Toia in the re-entry draft. #OCSC
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) December 27, 2018
Again, take it with a grain of salt since nothing is official yet and is just a rumor at this point. However, Galarcep has been known to be very reputable and accurate in the past, so we’ll keep an eye on this one and release updates as we find out more.