How Real Salt Lake built a culture where youth could thrive
Young players are taking advantage of an opportunity for more minutes as the club heads to Matchday 3 at Atlanta United (5:30 p.m. MT, Apple TV).
HERRIMAN, Utah — Since the early days of Real Salt Lake’s academy — when the youth development pipeline started on a campus in Casa Grande, Arizona, before moving to the suburbs on the western edge of Salt Lake City — the club knew it had a path for competing in Major League Soccer.
It wasn’t always going to be the multi-million dollar signing from Europe, whether by aging start or rising wunderkind. RSL might not always attract a breakout figure from the World Cup to come to the hills of the Wasatch Front.
But somewhere in that now-Herriman factory, there would be stars.
It’s still early in the 2026 campaign, but some of those potential stars are starting to shine.
In each of the past two weekends, Real Salt Lake has seen five homegrown academy alums graduate to the first team, a group that includes regulars Justen Glad in defense and Zavier Gozo in the attack, but not also includes midfielders Aiden Hezarkhani, Luca Moisa and Zach Booth.
Hezarkhani even scored his first goal with the first team in last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Seattle — and it shouldn’t be his list, head coach Pablo Mastroeni firmly believes.
“I think Aiden is a really technical, dynamic player; he is an attacking weapon,” Mastroeni said this week before the club departed for Saturday’s road match with Atlanta United (5:30 p.m. MT, Apple TV). “When we talk about development, everyone wants a timeline. But it’s when their self-belief is commensurate with the self-belief of everyone around them.
“I think Aiden has had some really good performances. But I think we have yet to see the best of Aiden Herzarkhani.”
That environment of trust where young players can thrive doesn’t just extend to credit to the youth. At 29, Glad has slipped from the stages of “rising young star” to entrenched starter, a center back who can play on the right side of Salt Lake’s new back-three and find space going forward on set pieces and in transitional moments.
The longest tenured RSL player now in his 13 season, the Arizona native signed his inaugural first-team contract in 2014, debuted with Real Salt Lake a year later, and has amassed more than 270 first-team appearances since then.
And he doesn’t think Hezarkhani or any of other teenagers are anywhere close to their ceiling as they seize the opportunities for first professional minutes.
“I think the young guys are hungry, they’re taking things into their own hands, and they have a maturity to play at the high level,” Glad said. “They got their opportunity, and they’ve been crushing it. It’s fun to see the next generation coming up.”
The breakthrough of so many young players at once isn’t just a nod to their own talent and work ethic. It’s also a tribute to the environment around Real Salt Lake.
Veterans like Glad, goalkeeper Rafael Cabral, midfielder Pablo Ruiz and others have created an environment where youth can thrive — often mixing in first-team selections with those from the third-division Real Monarchs in individual training sessions.
Newcomers to the squad like Uruguayan World Cup hopeful Juan Manuel Sanabria, newly signed Designated Player striker Morgan Guilavogui, and versatile defender Lukas Engel have added to the squad, as well as rookie forward Sergi Solans.
With RSL regulars Diego Luna (knee), Victor Olatunji (eye) and DeAndre Yedlin (hamstring) opening the season on the mend, it’s opened up time and competition for new faces eager to seize their moments. Stijn Spierings, the 29-year-old midfield signing from Danish club Brøndby could make his RSL debut as early as Saturday after making the trip to Atlanta.
But it’s one thing to offer competition. It’s another to take it.
That’s what this group — perhaps regardless of the overall talent or final ceiling on the club’s 2026 season, Mastroeni noted. The veteran manager said he already sees a group that will “compete,” “help each other,” and “put the team first” as its foundation.
“If we can build that and that can be our identity, with more talented players and that team mentality, I think we can be a top team in the west,” he added. “That’s what these first few games say to me. It’s all there; now we’ve just got to keep getting results while these guys are getting in.”