Former Cincinnati, Miami & Seattle Right Back Added to 2025 RSL Roster Ahead of Saturday’s Minnesota Match; Two-Time U.S. World Cup Defender Also Played in Europe w/ Tottenham, Sunderland, Newcastle, Galatasaray
HERRIMAN, Utah (Thursday, August 21, 2025) – Real Salt Lake today acquired Major League Soccer veteran DeAndre Yedlin from FC Cincinnati in exchange for $304,700 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM). Yedlin will immediately be added to RSL’s 2025 roster, the 32-year-old U.S. Men’s National Team star training with Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side Thursday and Friday, eligible to compete in this weekend’s Claret-and-Cobalt match at home against Minnesota United FC (7:30p MT, America First Field / www.RSL.com/tickets).
“RSL is an historic club in MLS, with an amazing reputation around the League,” said Yedlin from the airport on Wednesday night, prior to his arrival at Salt Lake City International Airport. “I’ve played with two of the Club’s iconic people, Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman, and I was coached by Jason Kreis in Miami. I’ve known Kurt Schmid since my Seattle days, (Director of Recruitment) Jon Spencer is a family friend. Pablo Mastroeni’s reputation is excellent with his track record of success on and off the pitch. The culture they’ve built there is outstanding.”
“As a visitor, I always hated to travel there – it’s a tough place to play, at altitude, against a high-energy team. You know you’re gonna get a tough game, against a team that plays good football and is fun to watch. RSL has always had what it takes to compete. It was exciting to hear of their interest in me becoming part of the setup at RSL, and something my family and I needed to explore.”
A veteran of 218 career MLS matches with Seattle (2013/14), Inter Miami (2022-24) and Cincinnati (2024/25), Yedlin has scored four career goals in the North American top-flight from his right back position. The three-time MLS All-Star (2013, 2014, 2022) also served as club Captain for Inter Miami’s 2023 Leagues Cup championship team, ceding the honor to Lionel Messi upon his late-season arrival. As a second-year professional, Yedlin also raised the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with Seattle in 2014.
Yedlin also scored four times while playing 187 games of European football from early 2015 to January 2022. Yedlin’s European totals include 151 games in England with Newcastle – whom he helped gain promotion in the 2016/17 campaign – as well as Sunderland and Tottenham, prior to a 36-game career with Turkish power Galatasaray in 2021/22.
Yedlin continues: “From one homegrown to another, it has been great to see how Justen Glad has done there, building a career at his boyhood club; Diego Luna is a guy who has blown up on the scene by being anextremely hard worker and willingness to work on both sides of the ball; when your attacking guys and technically proficient players buy in, as Diego has, with some grit and a chip on his shoulder, it inspires the whole group to do the defensive work and never stop fighting.”
“My family is excited for the move, looking forward to living in the mountains, which will be a whole different world with the nature there,” added Yedlin, who is a voracious reader off the field, also exploring his artistic side with clothing design and pursuing environmental endeavors through his recyclable/vegan Sokito brand football boots. “I’m excited to get back to the West, as I’ve always felt at home in the mountains, my grandfather and I used to go hiking a lot when I was a child. I find them very calming and relaxing. My wife is from The Bronx, and she cannot wait.”
Born on July 9, 1993 as DeAndre Roselle Yedlin in Seattle, Wash., becoming Seattle Sounders FC’s first-ever homegrown signing, returning to his hometown after attending the University of Akron for two seasons(2011/12). Yedlin is a two-time FIFA World Cup selection (2014 & 2022), boasting 81 caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team over a decade-long span from 2014 to 2023.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome DeAndre to our club,” said RSL Chief Soccer Officer Kurt Schmid, whose team boasts five of the remaining eight reg. season matches at home. “He is a player of tremendous quality whose experience at the highest levels of the game will be invaluable to our team. Beyond his skill on the field, his leadership and professionalism will strengthen our locker room and help set the tone. We believe DeAndre’s impact will be felt immediately, and we’re excited about the role he will play in driving our success now and into the future.
Yedlin, who will wear jersey No. 2 for RSL this season, joins nine other RSL players to own FIFA World Cup appearances on their career resume, with Eddie Pope (2006), Robbie Findley (2010), Nick Rimando (2014) and Kyle Beckerman (2014) also representing the United States. Former RSL midfielder Andy Williams(Jamaica, 1998), Douglas Sequiera (Costa Rica, 2006), Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica, 2010/14), Carlos Salcedo (Mexico, 2018) and Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rica, 2018, 2022) also competed for their home nations in the globe’s largest event. Pope, Findley, Rimando, Beckerman and Oviedo each participated in the quadrennial event while an active member of RSL.
Only eight players in Real Salt Lake history have played more games in Europe than Yedlin – Alfredo Ortuño (511), Nedum Onuoha (354), fellow 2025 addition Johnny Russell (334), Damir Kreilach (277), Giuseppe Rossi (268), Bobby Wood (230), new teammate Diogo Gonçalves (220) and Everton Luiz (204).
TRANSACTION: Real Salt Lake acquires DF DeAndre Yedlin from FC Cincinnati (MLS) in exchange for $304,700 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM)
# 2 – DeAndre Yedlin
Pronunciation: dee-AHN-dray YED-lin
Position: Defender
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Date of Birth: 9 July 1993 (32)
Nationality: American
How Acquired: Via trade from FC Cincinnati (MLS) in exchange for $304,700 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM)
Real Salt Lake (9-13-4, 31 points, 10th West / 20th Shield) returns this week to America First Field in Sandy with Saturday’s 7:30p MT Major League Soccer regular-season match against Minnesota United FC (13-6-8, 47 points, 2nd West / 6thShield).
Saturday’s contest is available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth (ENG) on the call, as are Jorge Perez-Navarro and Marcelo Balboa (SPN). Iconic RSL voice David James and former MLS goalkeeper Jay Nolly will call the game for KSL Sports Radio (1160 AM / 97.5 FM), with Nelson Moran in his 21st season as RSL’s Spanish radio home on both 102.3 KDUT FM / 106.3 FM KBMG.
RSL returns home to play five of its next six contests on Utah soil from Saturday through early October, before ending the 2025 reg. season campaign away at Seattle on Oct. 11 in a rescheduled match and at St. Louis for MLS “Decision Day” on Oct. 18. RSL returns home – where it boasts five wins and two draws against just one loss since June 1 – looking to rebound from a pair of chaotic and controversial one-goal losses each of the last two weekends away at Charlotte FC and New York Red Bulls. This weekend’s Minnesota United FC visit is a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup Playoff First-Round series. Tickets are available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
RSL now puts its 7-6-3 (W-L-T) home mark on the Wasatch Front thus far this year in MLS, Champions Cup and Leagues Cup matches on the line against Minnesota on Saturday. A year ago, RSL amassed a 12-3-4 (W-L-T) record at home, where the Club has traditionally enjoyed a fortress-like record of success, winning nearly 70% of games and averaging just under two points per game in parts of 17 seasons across all competitions in Sandy.
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