Rumors keep flying around Real Salt Lake these days, and Athletic reporter Paul Tenorio just dropped another one: Sam Johnson, a Liberian forward playing in Norway.
#RSL is in the final stages of signing Liberian forward Sam Johnson of Vålerenga, per sources. Deal still not completely done and could conceivably fall apart, but nearing the finish line.
— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) January 11, 2019
Johnson, 25, has spent the majority of his professional career playing for Scandinavian teams, with his career from 2011 to 2016 being based in Sweden. In 2016, he joined Chinese side Wuhan Zall, who played in the Chinese Super League.
2018 saw Johnson return to Scandinavia, playing for Valerenga in Norway.
Throughout his career, Johnson has maintained a good goalscoring rate of about once every two to three games. That was enough in 2018 for 11 goals in 24 appearances.
We of course don’t know yet whether this move will come to fruition, but Johnson is very much the sort of target RSL is looking for. Tenorio’s warning that the deal isn’t done is fair enough, but a warning like that belongs with every rumor.
We’ll see what happens with this one.