Real Salt Lake secures midfielder Everton Luiz on year-long loan deal

Consider this one official: Brazilian midfielder Everton Luiz will spend 2019 in Salt Lake City. After the rumors surfaced just a few days ago, Luiz’s current club, Serie A side SPAL, tweeted the announcement this morning.

For those of us who don’t speak Italian, here’s what Google Translate told me that means:

Everton Luiz temporarily sold to the US company Real Salt Lake

Short, sweet, and to the point. I figure since it was tweeted out from SPAL’s official Twitter account, that means it’s a done deal. As detailed in the previous transfer rumors, Real Salt Lake will have the option to purchase Luiz outright after the 2019 season.

The 30-year-old will join the RSL ranks and most likely feature alongside Kyle Beckerman in the defensive midfielder spot. With the departure of Sunny and with Luke Mulholland’s option being declined, this comes as no surprise as Craig Waibel needed to find a replacement to fill that hole, should Mike Petke decide to play with two d-mids like he did for the majority of last season.

Everton Luiz spent one season in Serie A, making 21 total appearances for SPAL. Prior to that, he spent five years with several different European clubs after he made the move from Brazil in 2013.

UPDATE: Since the publishing of this article, RSL has made the announcement official via a press release on their website.