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It’s amazing to think that Jefferson Savarino has only been apart of RSL for two seasons now. He has adapted to MLS with the same lightening quick pace that he takes on defenders. Jefferson was a breakout player in his first campaign in 2017, and 2018 only further cemented his role as a pillar for RSL’s attack.
In 2018 Jefferson was Mr. Consistent for RSL, both featuring and starting in 32 of the club’s 34 regular season games, as well as all 3 playoff games. He saw his regular season minutes balloon from 1,673 minutes in 2017 to a stellar 2,853 minutes in 2018. If you include playoff minutes, Jefferson Savarino finished with more time on the field than any other player on the RSL squad in 2018 at 3,112 total minutes.
He rewarded Mike Petke’s decision to select him week after week by bagging 7 goals and dishing out 11 assists in his 2018 campaign; finishing the season as #1 in assists and #5 in goal scoring for the club. It is no wonder that Jefferson Savarino was recognized by Major League Soccer as the 5th highest rated player in the leagues 22 Under 22 awards.
It should be no surprise that Jefferson looks to play a pivotal role for RSL for years to come, and the club would be wise to keep a hold of him as long as they can. This may become increasingly more difficult as time goes on.
Savarino continues to get opportunities to impress on the international level for Venezuela, as well as in Major League Soccer. His value reflects that as 2018 saw the speedy wingers transfer value increase 33% year over year hitting its all time high at 1.5 million dollars in 2018, according to transfermarket.com.