:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65731871/DSC_1463.0.jpg)
After a wildly successful campaign with Real Monarchs, winger Maikel Chang is rumored to have earned promotion to the first team, signing a one-year contract with Real Salt Lake according to a report from ADN Cuba.
The contract, the report says, includes two option years for the Cuban winger, who featured in every competitive Real Monarchs match in 2019.
The 2019 USL Championship season saw Chang play in 38 matches, scoring 15 goals and providing eight assists across the campaign. It was a significant production rate from Chang, who scored four goals in 2018.
Prior to joining Real Monarchs, Chang played with Charleston Battery from 2013 to 2017.
Chang’s path to the United States from Cuba was an interesting one: He defected to the United States in Oct. 2012 when playing for the Cuban National Team, leaving the team prior to a match against Canada and boarding a bus to Jacksonsville, Florida. Along with two other men he defected with, he joined Charleston Battery on a one-year contract.