What ever happened to one-time RSL-bound striker Elias Manoel?

The forward from New York Red Bulls who was acquired by Real Salt Lake for $700,000 in GAM never reported to preseason and was transferred Thursday to Brazilian power Botafogo.

Real Salt Lake is still looking for a No. 9 to replace outbound Designated Player Chicho Arango to San Jose as the club enters Week 2 of the 2025 MLS regular season with Saturday’s home opener against Seattle Sounders FC (2:30 p.m. MT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

But one player whom the club signed never made it.

Elias Manoel was sold to Brazilian power and Copa Libertadores champion Botafogo on Thursday, the same club that purchased former RSL star Jefferson Savarino and is currently looking at transfering the Venezuelan international in the range of an 8-9 million euro fee, RSL announced.

Terms of the deal sending Manoel back to his native Brazil were not disclosed. But sources close to the deal told Salt City Soccer that the transfer fee likely exceeded the $700,000 in GAM used to purchase his MLS rights from the Red Bulls (keep in mind, however, that GAM-to-cash conversion is not a direct 1:1 correlation).

As first reported by Tom Bogert at GiveMeSport and confirmed by club sources, former New York Red Bulls striker Manoel never reported to preseason training camp after the Brazilian No. 9 received his work visa sponsored by RSL, which also began his U.S. green card process.

Manoel, who was traded to the Utah club along with four MLS SuperDraft picks in exchange for $700,000 in General Allocation Money and a sell-on percentage, spent two and a half seasons with the Red Bulls, scoring 13 goals with 10 assists in 67 regular-season matches and three more during nine playoff appearances.

But when the 23-year-old Brazilian who initially arrived in the United States on loan from Grêmio in August 2022 never reported to preseason, the club began entertaining new buyers. According to several team sources, Manoel sought a new contract with the club — read: more money — after initially welcoming the trade from New York.

That all led to Thursday’s transfer to Botafogo.

Botafogo also recently acquired midfielder Santiago Rodríguez from fellow MLS side New York City FC, a trade effected this past Saturday in exchange for the second-highest transfer fee in the club’s history.

The club now turns even more attention toward acquiring a No. 9 center forward to replace the departure of Designated Player striker Chicho Arango.

Real Salt Lake is currently on a two-DP/4 U-22 initiative player model in MLS, with Diogo Gonçalves as the only DP listed in the league’s club roster profiles.

After this week’s most recent roster-compliance update, reigning MLS Young Player of the Year Diego Luna, prized winger Dominik Marczuk, deep-lying midfielder Nelson Palacio and newly acquired Australian center forward Ariath Piol were under U-22 initiative designation.

Also of note: Braian Ojeda was bumped up to a TAM signing, joining Justen Glad, Pablo Ruiz and Brayan Vera for the remaininder of his contract (with an option for 2026 and 2027).

Manoel was also a TAM player at Real Salt Lake, according to league designations.