More than a right back: DeAndre Yedlin is the person Real Salt Lake needs right now
The 32-year-old right back with World Cup and European experience is also an avid hiker, published author and family man/father of two who should fit well into Salt Lake for years to come.
HERRIMAN, Utah — Don’t call DeAndre Yedlin “old,” even if he isn’t afraid to admit he’s more experienced the professional debutante who signed with his hometown Seattle Sounders back in 2013 when current Real Salt Lake chief soccer officer Kurt Schmid was leading the Sounders’ scouting efforts.
“Experienced” is a softer, if not more operative, words. Yedlin has it, and RSL needed it — which is why the Salt Lake club wasn’t afraid to send an oddly specific $304,700 in 2025 General Allocation Money to FC Cincinnati when it became clear Yedlin wasn’t going to re-sign on a long-term deal with the club.
Yedlin has experience in spades, after breaking out with the Sounders and the United States’ men’s national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and spending nearly a decade in Europe with Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Galatasaray. Officially in the fold — and getting forward — via Salt Lake’s training session Thursday at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Yedlin is one of just nine players in RSL history with more than 200 games of experience in European competition.
Of the current roster, only newly added Johnny Russell (334) and Designated Player teammate Diogo Gonçalves (220) have more.
He also knows MLS, returning to his native country with Inter Miami before spending the last two years with FC Cincinnati, which currently leads the Eastern Conference.
The summer transfer window wasn’t the first time RSL had spoken with Yedlin — he and Schmid go way back, as well as RSL director of recruitment Jon Spencer, and he played for club executive Jason Kreis in Miami.
But when Salt Lake “showed that they really valued me” in recent weeks, he and his family jumped out the opportunity to move a little closer to their extended family in the Seattle area.
“You can say it; I am old now, which is weird to say,” Yedlin said. “But I still feel youthful at heart.
“Physically, I feel great. I think mentally, I wouldn’t call it old, but I’m more mature. While that helps me on the pitch, it also helps off the pitch, helping the younger guys who are in the same positions that I was.”
Yedlin still has miles on his legs, and he projects to solve a recurring enigma at right back for Salt Lake, where converted midfielder Noel Caliskan has been filling in for much of the season.
The club ended the summer window sending homegrown product Bode Hidalgo to CF Montreal, a deal reported by La Presse and GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert. Salt Lake will receive $350,000 in General Allocation Money for the 23-year-old fullback, as well as retain a sell-on fee for the Kaysville native.
For his part, Yedlin — now a recently married father of two young children who describes himself “first and foremost” as a “family man” — sees himself fitting in well with Salt Lake City, the state of Utah, and the small-market organization. The avid hiker who wrote two children’s books with former Miami teammate Drake Callender — with a third due out soon — grew up an avid hiker, summiting some of Washington’s peaks with his grandfather.
He didn’t commit to retiring in Utah, and at one point it’s entirely possible — maybe even likely — that the Seattle native returns to his hometown with the Sounders. But Yedlin is expected to sign a medium- to long-term contract with the club, and team sources indicated to Salt City Soccer that a framework is already in place for at least a two-year extension to his currently deal that expires at the close of the 2025 season.
“I’m a guy that loves projects, and this definitely feels like a project,” said Yedlin, referring to the youth of players like teenage striker Zavier Gozo and rising U.S. international standout Diego Luna, among others. “I love building things, painting, drawing, writing, whatever the project might be.
“I definitely want to try to inspire and help as many people as I can. If I’m in a position where I can do that, then that’s where I’m going to do. Hopefully I’m able to help these young guys here, and maybe guys that are older than me, too.”
The project isn’t a rebuild, either. RSL sits just one point behind the playoff line ahead of Saturday’s home match against Minnesota United FC (7:30 p.m. MT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV), where Yedlin will be eligible to make his debut after a pair of training sessions with his new team.
The club’s 31 points off a 9-13-4 record are 21 behind West-leading San Diego FC — but only 10 behind Seattle for a top-four seed.
And Yedlin knows, perhaps as well as anybody in MLS, that getting into the postseason makes more than half the 30-team league an MLS Cup contender.
“Just get into the playoffs, and it’s really anybody’s game,” he said. “It’s almost like two different seasons; you have the regular season, and then the playoffs.
“I think we have a great team and great players,” he added, “and hopefully we can get stuff clicking quickly and make a run for it.”