RSL’s newest acquisition, Striker Victor Olatunji, has arrived in Utah and is currently awaiting his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 visa approval in order to hopefully make his Major League Soccer debut on Sunday, August 10, at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey against the New York Red Bulls, or the following weekend at Charlotte FC on Saturday, August 16.
Tickets for RSL’s five home MLS games as the team pushes for the postseason are available at www.RSL.com/tickets for expected sellouts in Sandy, which could potentially host an RSL v Liga MX Leagues Cup Quarterfinal on Aug. 19/20 prior to RSL’s next home MLS reg. season contest on Sat., August 23 against Minnesota United FC.
Here's some things you should know about Victor as we welcome him to Utah:
- Just one month shy of his 26th birthday (Sept. 5), Victor Oluyemi Olatunji arrives at Real Salt Lake as a well-traveled professional, appearing for seven previous clubs, none bigger than Sparta Prague in the top Czech division, where he has been for the last two years.
- Olatunji – his preferred name instead of being called “Victor” – scored 20 goals in 93 games across multiple competitions with Sparta Prague since his arrival there in July, 2023. With Sparta Prague, Olatunji and his teammates won both the 2023/24 league title and the same season’s Czech Cup.
- Of those 20 goals, none were bigger than the six goals he scored in 14 UEFA Champions League matches. Olatunji scored four goals in nine qualifying games, with another two in the CL tourney proper.
- On Sept. 18, 2024, Olatunji and Sparta Prague defeated Red Bull Salzburg, 3-0, in Champions League, with Victor scoring the second goal and assisting on the third in the victory. Scoring a goal and adding an assist made him just the third African player and the first-ever Nigerian player to accomplish the feat of scoring and assisting in his UEFA Champions League debut. Last November, Olatunji scored again in the competition, with Sparta Prague falling 1-2 to Brest.
- In the Nigerian language of Yoruba, “Olatunji” means “nobility has awoken again” or “wealth has resurrected,” reflecting the idea of honor or prosperity returning or being reasserted. Surely when Victor helps the Claret-and-Cobalt raise another MLS Cup, we can say he has lived up to his name!
- Olatunji signed his first professional contract with Bratislava shortly after turning 18 years of age, scoring 43 goals in 105 games with clubs in Slovakia, Austria, Cyprus and the Czech Republic prior to his arrival at Sparta Prague in the summer of 2023.
- With Real Salt Lake, Olatunji joins two active players with ties to his home country: FW William Agada and MF Emeka Eneli. Agada was born in Nigeria, while Eneli was born in Michigan, the son of Nigerian parents.
- Olatunji joins Agada – now with three goals in 16 games this year for RSL – and former two-way midfielder Sunday “Sunny” Stephen (who played 64 games and scored one goal for RSL) as Nigerian-born players on the all-time Claret-and-Cobalt roster.
- Olatunji is the seventh forward to be added to Real Salt Lake’s roster in 2025, joining Forster Ajago (on loan to Lexington USL), Ariath Piol (transfer from Australia), William Agada (acquired via trade from Kansas City), MLS veteran Johnny Russell (signed as a free agent in April), USA U20 Marcos Zambrano (free agent after three years in Portugal) and Rwan Cruz (added via loan from Botafogo in Brazil last week).
