RSL: What if Real Salt Lake’s last few roster moves involve a familiar face?

An unforeseen contract breach has left Real Salt Lake looking thinner in the midfield than expected as the team heads to 2018. What comes next?

As Real Salt Lake heads into 2018, the front office and staff have done a fantastic job of putting together one of the more intriguing rosters in Major League Soccer.

Last season, RSL shifted its focus to a youth movement that paid dividends by the end of the year, and should flow nicely into the new season. Combine that with a full offseason under head coach Mike Petke, add in the new players who have signed in this most recent window, and RSL nation has multiple reasons to be excited by the potential the club will have heading into the new season, and rightfully so.

However, even with all the promise and potential surrounding RSL, there are still a few question marks surrounding the roster. Some more glaring than others.

Now that the team has officially begun preseason training at the new training facility, the next step in the Yura Movsisyan saga along with the question of who next goalkeeper on the roster will be still looming while not necessarily being a surprise to anyone following RSL’s most recent moves closely. The same can’t be said in regards to midfielder Stephen “Sunny” Sunday, who failed to report to team training, despite RSL picking up his option after last season.

Sunny’s most recent whereabouts pin him in Spain, and the most buzz involving RSL has linked them with multiple box-to-box midfielders as potential signings. A position held down by Sunny and Luke Mulholland over the past two seasons.

Midfield Uncertainty

The combination of the rumors and Sunny’s unwillingness to honor the team’s choice to extend his contract (an aspect unique to the US when it comes to contracts for the World’s Game) offer a reasonable explanation as to why Sunny chose to miss the first day, but his absence also puts the team in an unforeseen predicament ahead of their first match in March.

Regardless of the reasoning, the central midfield without Sunny is now looking somewhat shallow. Kyle Beckerman and Luke Mulholland were likely going to get the bulk of the minutes anyway, but only the unproven Nick Besler is behind them.

Current reports claim Tigres midfielder and RSL target Jesús Dueñas is unlikely to move until this summer, likely due to his 2018 World Cup aspirations. Waiting for the summer to add another midfielder would certainly test the club’s depth.

RSL could always go after another target, work things out with Sunny, or rely on someone already with the squad for additional depth until the summer window opens up. Luis Silva saw time in the middle during the last offseason under Jeff Cassar, Danny Acosta has had time in the middle with the Monarchs and the USYNT, and there is always the age-old option of deploying Jordan Allen.

There are pros and cons to each option. With preseason just getting underway, there is also time to sign a player specifically for depth as a short-term option. Including Javier Morales.

The Return of “El Maestro”

First and foremost, lets getting something out of way. Quickly take that shot of Javi-Mo nostalgia and let it ride. Think of all those classic moments from Javi’s time with RSL. The key passes in the final third, the beautiful free kicks, the golazos, and most importantly the eager anticipation that came whenever Javi had the ball at his feet, meaning a moment of brilliance was just seconds away.

Now chase that shot with a hefty dose of reality. Javi is 38 now and the league itself has rapidly evolved. While his departure following the 2016 season will forever be controversial, the 2017 season was definitely enlightening. Albert Rusnák has been given the keys to the car and in his debut season saw him replace Javi in impressive fashion.

Javi in turn signed with FC Dallas to act as a stop-gap for the recovering Mauro Diaz, but Dallas later opted to shift from their typical 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-4-2, not having to rely on a playmaker to string everything together, which led to Morales playing in a limited role. Javi would only see time in seven of Dallas’s first 24 matches, with only four of them being starts. Once Mauro Diaz returned, El Maestro filled in for an injured Kellyn Acosta, playeing deeper in the midfield.  He saw significant time in eight of their last ten games, another four of which were starts.

Javi couldn’t pull Dallas out of their death spiral that took them from the Western Conference leaders to an early offseason, but he did help provide a spark to a struggling Dallas team. Teammate, Tesho Akindele, summed up Javi’s performance best,

"“I think Javi’s just been offering something different. He’s really good in possession and he’s also always looking for a killer pass — like when we played Orlando, right away he played me through. He’s the guy who can collect the ball from the defense if we need a release valve, or he’s the guy who can kind of be like a second No. 10 with Mauro. He’s been really good for us, and all credit to him. He didn’t play much at all for us during the season after being a main player for 10 years during his career, and now he’s coming out and proving he’s still a great player. That’s a true professional right there.”"

A Potential Return

While the general consensus out of FC Dallas camp was that Javi was a great player to have, his option was declined ahead of 2018 as the club looked to go a different direction.

An out of contract Javi, already familiar with many of RSL’s players and experience in a free-flowing attacking style is definitely intriguing. He would also qualify as a free agent, meaning RSL wouldn’t have to acquire his rights.

According to the MLS PA, Javi did make slightly more than Sunny in 2017 ($315k vs $253k), which could be a potential snag.

Playing Javi next to Kyle Beckerman, but still having him behind Rusnák, Jefferson Savarino, and Joao Plata would emphasize Javi’s passing ability in the channels while not requiring him to rely on speed in the counter attack, something that worked against him in 2016.

If a deal can be reached, he could be an effective third option behind Mulholland until the summer, along with being an experienced leader for the next group of RSL hopefuls.

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Bringing Javi back for one last rodeo also allows the team to move on from the club legend the “right way”. Morales still has yet to get a good-bye from fans at the RioT, thanks to his surprise dismissal and his lack of minutes when Dallas last came to SLC. Sunny’s dilemma offers the club a chance close this chapter on better terms after Javi established himself as one of the most prominent figures in RSL history.