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ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle has been the man to see about Justin Meram rumors this offseason, apparently, and he’s reported today that the deal to bring the winger to Real Salt Lake has been (mostly) completed.
He broke the news last week, too, which should tell you all you need to know about the accuracy of this report. (Isn’t it weird that people often use that phrase to mean ‘inaccurate’? I don’t mean it that way at all. Carlisle’s impeccable.)
Multiple sources state that Justin Meram has indeed signed with Real Salt Lake. Still need final league approval, but contract signed and docs submitted. Oh, and his first regular season game with #RSL will be away against...Orlando City. #OCSC
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) February 11, 2020
The mostly? “Final league approval,” he says. Which, well, we know isn’t 100 percent approval, but for a player like Meram — not a high-stakes situation like Aron Johannsson or a markedly weird one like Landon Donovan — that’s basically all the confirmation we need.
So, welcome, Justin Meram.
The big question of course becomes whether or not he’s a starting player from the outset. It’s easy to imagine he will, what with the other options being either inexperienced or unnatural fits.
I’d wager that we’ll see Corey Baird and Meram on the flanks to start the season, but without a preseason game under our viewing belts (is... is that how eyes work?), we don’t really have any good reason to say that other than his experience.
We’re eagerly awaiting the first preseason game, which kicks off on Saturday.
Whoa.