RSL Sign 25-Year-old LB Alexandros Katranis

LAGOS, PORTUGAL (Friday, February 2, 2024) – Real Salt Lake interim Chief Soccer Officer / Sporting Director Kurt Schmid today announced the arrival of 25-year-old defender Alexandros Katranis, the former Greece youth international transferring from Polish side Piast Gliwice, his home since Summer 2021. Pending receipt of both a P-1 visa and his International Transfer Certificate (ITC), Katranis is signed through the 2025 MLS season, with Club options for 2026 and 2027.

“Alex will provide guile, speed and skill on our left side, also giving us depth as we look to compete in 45-50 games this year across all competitions,” said Schmid, arriving in Portugal today ahead of three matches as part of RSL’s Atlantic Cup competition against Brøndby IF (Denmark), Fredrikstad (Norway) and Klaksvik (Faroe Islands). “Katranis will compete immediately, bringing with him experience at various levels in Europe. We are excited to see how quickly he can integrate with our Club and succeed in a new chapter of his career.”

Katranis was owned by French club Saint-Etienne from August 2017 until his move to Poland, playing 73 games on loan with clubs in Belgium, Greece and Turkey in that four-year span. Forty of those games were played at Greek side Atromitos, Katranis’ boyhood club, with whom he signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2016, just after his 18^th birthday.

All told, the 25-year-old – born May 4, 1998 in Volos, Greece, with his new RSL jersey number reflecting his birth year, as he has worn 98 with Piast Gilwice as well – arrives on the Wasatch Front with 168 professional appearances in addition to his 31 caps with the Greece U17, U19 and U21 youth national teams from 2013-21.

“From the first moment I found out that there was a possibility to participate in such a big league like MLS, with globally-recognized teams and players, I really was more than excited,” said Katranis, en route to join the team in Portugal for the final week of its preseason trip to the Iberian peninsula. “Also, the manner in which the entire RSL organization approached me during this negotiation period was amazing. So that made the decision very easy. I am also very happy that in the next few days I will get to know the coaches and team staff, and I will be able to train with my new teammates.”