Who is Diego Luna, and what does he bring to Real Salt Lake?
Who is Diego Luna, and what does he bring to Real Salt Lake?
RSL will reportedly take advantage of Major League Soccer's U-22 initiative, signing El Paso midfielder and 18-year-old U.S. youth international Diego Luna to a USL-record transfer deal.
Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your morning with Own Goals, the official newsletter of the Salt City FC podcast covering Real Salt Lake and soccer in the state of Utah.
There’s been a lot of transfer news coming over the wire among Real Salt Lake, including the club’s re-signing of Ecuadorian speedster Anderson Julio and Venezuelan designated player Jefferson Savarino. It seems the new ownership group led by David Blitzer and Ryan Smith isn’t afraid to splash some cash, and wants this team to be successful. And now we have another key piece of the RSL attack emerging, courtesy of MLS news breaker Tom Bogert on Tuesday.
Luna flew to Salt Lake City by Wednesday night, according to KTSM in Texas. RSL reportedly paid El Paso a $250,000 transfer fee for Luna, who would be available immediately for Salt Lake because his international transfer certificate is already registered in the United States.
That means Luna could be in the lineup as soon as Saturday for Real Salt Lake’s road tilt at Vancouver — the only MLS match of the weekend, due to the international break.
“You know I can’t comment on rumors and speculation out there,” RSL general manager Elliot Fall told ESPN 700 before the news was official. “Obviously, Diego’s a talented player; we’re all familiar with who he is. One of, if not the, best players in USL. But I can’t comment on rumors specifically.”
If you’re a fan of international soccer, especially in the United States, you probably know who Luna is. But if not, here’s a refresher on the 18-year-old Mexican-American international from Sunnyvale, California.
Luna was a rising star within the youth ranks at the San Jose Earthquakes in 2015, starring at the acclaimed Dallas Cup and Generation Adidas Cup as a youngster.
That prompted a move to Arizona, where he enrolled in the Barcelona Residency Academy in Casa Grande in 2018 and began his #Path2Pro at a young age.
In April 2021 at the age of 17, Luna signed his first professional contract with El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship, debuting with the club a month later on May 8 during a 1-1 draw with New Mexico United. After that match, then-El Paso coach Mark Lowry proclaimed that Luna “has the mentality to go to the very top, and we’re gonna help him do that.”
The teenager has 13 goals and nine assists in 43 appearances with El Paso, but Luna has much higher ambitions than USL — or even MLS, as a player of his potential should. He wants to play in Europe, and he views RSL as the type of club to get him there, according to Bogart:
A number of European teams hoped to sign Luna, but he opted for RSL given the club's development pipeline and their connections to European clubs for any future move, per sources.
In addition to the record transfer fee, El Paso Locomotive also maintained a small portion of any future sell-on fee for Luna, Bogart later reported.
Blitzer is a shareholder with a handful of clubs in Europe, including Crystal Palace in England, Augsburg in Germany — which RSL tapped on a season-long loan for Venezuelan international Sergio Cordova — as well as second-division clubs AD Alcorcón (Spain) and ADO Den Haag (Netherlands).
Luna has four goals in his first 10 games of the season for Locomotive FC, while also spending time with the United States’ U-20 national team, scoring a goal in two appearances. Because he has not been capped by the U.S. senior squad, he also has eligibility to represent Mexico.
Perhaps all of that potential is why Real Salt Lake is reportedly shelling out big money for Luna — the largest transfer fee in USL history, according to KVIA ABC-7 in El Paso.
“The best player in USL, hands down,” new El Paso coach John Hutchinson told the Texas television station earlier this year. “18 years old, it doesn’t matter.
“I’ve said this previously: he’s very, very lucky,” he continued. “Diego’s reaping the benefits of being around top quality pros. If I’m coaching in MLS … you’ve watched him for 16 months now, he’s a great kid and a wonderful footballer.
“He’s got this wild hairstyle and he’s a wild-looking kid,” Hutchinson added. “But deep down, there’s a beautiful kid in there who just wants to play beautiful football and show his abilities to the world.
“Does he foul the eye test? Maybe he does, but does that really matter? For me, as long as he works with his teammates and they work with the football club.”
So what does Luna bring to Real Salt Lake? First of all, the attacking midfielder fills a role. The 5-foot-8 playmaker with a lethal right foot primarily plays primarily centrally, so he can link up with Savarino, Julio or Justin Meram on the wing, or slot in behind an advanced forward like Bobby Wood. He also has experience drifting to the wing in spot duty of play.
The additional firepower would be a boon for RSL, which finds itself tied for second in the Western Conference with a 7-3-4 record — while scoring just 17 goals in 14 matches. Among MLS teams with a winning record, that’s tied for the worst in the league.
Real Salt Lake has done a remarkable job getting to the point it is with a high-powered defense and an offense that has managed to do just enough to get to the point it is now. With Luna in the ranks, balance could be restored to the attack-defense force.
“Power, precision, 1-on-1, vision … seems to float effortlessly on the ball in the final third, no fear in Luna’s game,” USL analyst Devon Kerr wrote on Twitter. “Another quality example of the talent in the USL Championship readily available to MLS clubs in the U.S.”