Just 48 hours into his latest journey, Real Salt Lake winger Jefferson Savarino is quickly adapting to his new club, new teammates and new surroundings. With RSL readying to embark upon a week that will see the Claret-and-Cobalt play three matches across three time zones in eight days, the 20-year-old Venezuelan doesn’t have much choice. Adding in RSL’s season-long injury woes and the departures this week of four players to the U.S. U-20 National Team for this month’s FIFA U-20 World Cup and Savarino could not have arrived at a better time to be baptized by fire.
Fortunately for RSL and Savarino, he has been active with his former club – Zulia in his native Venezuela – playing as recently as last Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores, so his fitness should be up to par with his new teammates.
“In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to make decisions in the first week. But it looks like there is some time for him to have,” RSL General Manager Craig Waibel said. “He’s a good young player. He’ll transition quickly. He’s the type of player with his athletic ability that we think he’ll fit in MLS pretty quickly.”
Savarino is a proven goalscorer in the Venezuelan Primera Division and comes with experience in Copa Libertadores. With his addition, RSL now has 12 players on the roster who are 23 years old or younger. Already four of those players – Jordan Allen, Brooks Lennon, Sebastian Saucedo and Albert Rusnák – have started in RSL’s attack, giving Head Coach Mike Petke a bevy of young attacking options once the team returns to full strength.
For this week, he is looking to get Savarino acclimated to the team and assimilated to its style of play.
“It’s more about getting the jet lag out of him. Getting him introduced to the guys. Getting him familiar a bit with how we’re going to play. And then take it from there,” Petke said after Savarino’s first training session with the team on Tuesday. “What kind of impact depends on how we utilize him. We have to be intelligent. Especially with a Wednesday-Saturday coming up after that. What we’re going to do is what’s good for the team and what’s good for Jefferson as well.”
On Tuesday, Savarino worked with RSL for the first time after flying in from Venezuela on Sunday afternoon. In that short time, he has already gotten to know some of his teammates as they ready to face the New England Revolution on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.
His excitement about playing for a new club in a new league was palpable.
“They welcomed me and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of them. They all are very open and friendly and have great communication, which is very important when gametime comes. I’m really excited for that,” Savarino said through a translator. “I don’t feel pressure at all right now. I’m actually very happy and very excited to be here and chip in some of my work and succeed as well.”
Early in his training, Petke already sees a weapon he can utilize in many different facets of RSL’s offense.
“He’s an exciting young player. He’s extremely fast. He’s fit. He’s active. He’s a goal-scorer. He’s creative. All that stuff in one. At 20 years old, he fits in the mold of Brooks and Bofo … guys like that. We have incredible options, both wide and centrally as well,” Petke said. “I think he can play a few positions in our attack, for sure.”
