Youth investment: Real Salt Lake finds latest value in college draft pick Sergi Solans

Not every top MLS prospect comes through the academy system, and Real Salt Lake is finding as much success as anybody through the American university pathway.

At the expense of making sweeping generalizations about a club after just three games, Real Salt Lake’s success in 2026 appears to have a type.

And that type revolves around its youth (at least, for now).

Aiden Hezarkhani scored a goal for the second-straight week, rookie Sergi Solans added his first professional, and Real Salt Lake improved to 2-1-0 with a 3-2 win over Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Zavier Gozo also scored for Real Salt Lake, the Utah native’s first of the year after his breakout four-goal, three-assist campaign last season.

Aleksei Miranchuk had a brace for Atlanta, which fell to 0-3 a year after struggling to a 5-16-13 campaign.

But the story around Salt Lake’s 3-point trip to the Big Peach revolved around the club’s youth, which continues to break out and prove that, in the immortal words Pete Townshend, the kids are alright.

Yes, there was the touch of Designated Player striker Morgan Guilavogui, who made his first start in RSL’s quickly iconic Grid City kit in the ATL and provided an exceptional assist and showed that he should be on track for double-digit set-ups in his first season in the league.

But the continued ascent of Hezarkhani and Gozo, as well as a SuperDraft pick who didn’t come through the club’s academy but took a chance on MLS after a standout college soccer career far from home, shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Not every top MLS prospect comes through the academy system. College soccer still has a place in the game, and Real Salt Lake has found success in the American university system as much as anyone.

Take the rookie Solans, who was selected with the 30th overall pick of the 2025 MLS SuperDraft by Salt Lake in a draft-day trade for $50,000 in general allocation money to the LA Galaxy in exchange for the rights to the Spanish native.

Instead of signing immediately with the club, Solans elected to return to college for one more year. The 22-year-old product of Spain’s Girona FC academy who initially played at Oregon State then returned to UCLA and scored a team-high 16 goals with six assists in 19 matches en route to All-American second-team honors and a program record-breaking third hat trick in the Big Ten Tournament final.

That same nose-for-goal was on display in the 23rd minute, when Guilavogui found space in transition, picked out Solans streaking ahead of him, and found the back of the net en route to an air guitar-strumming, dashing slide towards the corner flag for the rookie’s first professional goal.

“I was thinking about my family, about my friends back home,” said Solans. “It was a hard moment, because a lot of things went through my mind. But it’s something to be proud of.”

Solans also pointed in celebration toward teammate Juan Manuel Sanabria, the 25-year-old Uruguayan World Cup hopeful who is just 2 years older than the rookie. The two Spanish speakers connected quickly, and Sanabria — whose pro career took him to Atletico Madrid, Zaragoza and Atletico San Luis before signing with Salt Lake through the 2029-30 season — couldn’t be happier for the youngster whose own path took him through the American university system.

“You deserve it,” Solans recalled of Sanabria’s words in his head. “That’s your job, but you deserve it.”

RSL returns home to training in Herriman before Saturday’s Matchday 4 kickoff against Austin FC (7:30 p.m. MDT, Apple TV).