RSL Exercises Options on Eight Players, w/ Nine Seeing Options Declined / Out-of-Contract;
Discussions Ongoing with Three Others;
RSL Retains Rights to 28 Players From 2025 Roster, Including Eight from Homegrown Pipeline
HERRIMAN, Utah (Thursday, November 5, 2025) – Real Salt Lake Sporting Director Kurt Schmid today announced various end-of-season roster moves, returning 28 players – including eight from the Club’s Academy/Monarchs homegrown pipeline – from the ninth-seeded 2025 squad. RSL returns to Herriman to kick off its 22nd Major League Soccer preseason on January 10, 2026.
Today’s announcements arrive two weeks after Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s team saw its West-best fifth consecutive MLS Cup Playoff run end with a 3-1 loss in Portland in the Wild Card Match, as RSL advanced to the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight years, and for the 15th occasion in the last 18 years overall.
2025 RSL Roster Decisions
Out of Contract – FW William Agada, DF Zack Farnsworth, GK Zac MacMath
Options Declined – FW Forster Ajago, MF Matthew Bell, DF Kevon Lambert, FW Johnny Russell, DF Tommy Silva, MF Jude Wellings
Options Exercised – FW Jesus Barea, D/M Noel Caliskan, DF Alex Katranis, MF Braian Ojeda, DF Philip Quinton, GK Mason Stajduhar, DF Brayan Vera, FW Marcos Zambrano
Guaranteed for 2026 – MF Owen Anderson, GK Rafael Cabral, FW Rwan Cruz, MF Emeka Eneli, DF Justen Glad, MF Diogo Gonçalves, FW Zavier Gozo, FW Aiden Hezarkhani, GK Max Kerkvliet, MF Diego Luna, FW Dominik Marczuk, MF Omar Marquez, MF Luca Moisa, FW Victor Olatunji, MF Nelson Palacio, FW Ariath Piol, DF Luis Rivera, MF Pablo Ruiz, MF Juan Gio Villa, M/F Tyler Wolff
Ongoing discussions TBD – DF Javain Brown, DF Kobi Henry, DF Sam Junqua
Several acquisitions from the past year – including 2025 Captain and Team Most Valuable Player Rafael Cabral, former U.S. Men’s National Team DF DeAndre Yedlin, Designated Player FW Rwan Cruz and strikers Victor Olatunji and Ari Piol – remain under contract for the 2026 season, which sees preseason kick off on January 10. Last year’s college SuperDraft pick Jesus Barea saw his option exercised after winning the 2025 Real Monarchs Golden Boot with 14 goals in 19 games, while USA U-20 standout Marcos Zambrano also returns for next season after scoring five goals in nine games for the Monarchs.
Barea and Zambrano join six others from 2025 to see their 2026 options exercised, including DF Alex Katranis, DF Brayan Vera, MF Noel Caliskan and MF Braian Ojeda, along with DF Philip Quinton and GK Mason Stajduhar.
RSL sees eight “Homegrown” Players – MF Owen Anderson, DF Justen Glad, FW Zavier Gozo, FW Aiden Hezarkhani, MF Omar Marquez, MF Luca Moisa, DF Luis Rivera and MF Juan Gio Villa – currently slated to return for next season, RSL’s 22nd in Major League Soccer.
Several other veterans of the Club – including burgeoning U.S. Men’s National Team Star, 2024 MLS Young Player of the Year and 2024/25 MLS All-Star MF Diego Luna, 2024 RSL Team MVP MF Emeka Eneli, on-loan Colombian international MF Nelson Palacio, long-time talismanic MF Pablo Ruiz, Designated Player Diogo Gonçalves and on-loan U-22 winger Dominik Marczuk – also own guaranteed contracts for the 2026 campaign.
Real Salt Lake is actively engaged in discussions with three players – DF Javain Brown, DF Sam Junqua and DF Kobi Henry – regarding potential future status with the Club. Brown was acquired in August, 2024, but missed this campaign with an early-season knee injury, while former Houston and Dallas veteran Junqua was acquired last December via trade. Former USA youth international and current Trinidad & Tobago centerback Henry spent 2025 on loan from French second division side Reims, and could see his loan extended or RSL exercise a purchase option on the current loan prior to the end of the calendar year.
Three players – FW William Agada, DF Zach Farnsworth and GK Zac MacMath – are also now out-of-contract at the end of the 2025 League season.
Veteran MLS goalkeeper MacMath played 98 games with RSL during his six-year tenure in Utah, including a 2022 season that saw him play every minute of 34 MLS matches (3,060), twice winning RSL’s Jordan Guernsey Humanitarian of the Year honor (2021, 2023) for his community efforts.
Utah native and homegrown product Farnsworth made 34 appearances with Real Monarchs amidst numerous injuries following his stellar 2021 preseason arrival on the Wasatch Front. Agada was acquired from Sporting Kansas City in April of this year, scoring two goals in 14 RSL games.
As of Nov. 5, 2025, Real Salt Lake's current roster headed into 2025, listed alphabetically by position, is as follows:
Goalkeepers (3): Rafael Cabral, Max Kerkvliet, Mason Stajduhar
Defenders (5): Justen Glad, Alex Katranis, Philip Quinton, Luis Rivera, Brayan Vera
Midfielders (11): Owen Anderson, Noel Caliskan, Emeka Eneli, Diogo Gonçalves, Diego Luna, Omar Marquez, Luca Moisa, Braian Ojeda, Nelson Palacio, Pablo Ruiz, Juan Gio Villa
Forwards (9): Jesus Barea, Rwan Cruz, Zavier Gozo, Aiden Hezarkhani, Dominik Marczuk, Victor Olatunji, Ari Piol, Tyler Wolff, Marcos Zambrano
Ongoing discussions TBD – DF Javain Brown, DF Kobi Henry, DF Sam Junqua
Key 2025/26 MLS Offseason Dates & Roster Mechanisms:
(Dates, Times [MT] – Subject to Change)
- , Nov. 26 – Deadline to exercise options / extend bona fide offers (11a MT)
- , Dec. 6 – MLS Cup 2025
- , Dec. 10 – MLS Free Agency period opens (11a MT)
- , Dec. 10 – Sat., Dec. 13 – MLS College Showcase, Mesa, AZ
- , Dec. 11 – Re-Entry Process, Stage 1 (11a MT); End of Year Waivers (3p MT)
- , Dec. 17 – Re-Entry Process, Stage 2 (3p MT)
- , Dec. 18 – 2026 MLS SuperDraft (TBD)
- Sat – Mon., Jan. 10-12 – 2026 RSL / MLS Preseason Begins
- , Feb. 21 – 2026 MLS Regular Season // RSL Season #22 Kicks Off
