Real Salt Lake trades Alvaro Saborio to DC United for Luis Silva

After registering five goals and five assists in 30 matches in his rookie season, Silva was traded to D.C. United midway through the 2013 season in exchange for allocation money. The combination of Espindola and Saborio could be one of the best in the league and just made D.C. United even better. Espindola received a red card against Seattle and Silva was traded on Thursday to Real Salt Lake for Costa Rican global Alvaro Saborio. He scored 63 goals and notched 13 assists in 127 MLS appearances for the club. Saborio is the team’s leading goal-scorer in their 11-year history. He reportedly missed their match against Kansas City because, after being involved in an altercation on a flight from Costa Rica, he was moved to another flight, which delayed his return to his club.

While Saborio might not be available for United Silva will be available for RSL next week when they host the Houston Dynamo. He has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, and at his age these things suggest that perhaps he is on the downside of his career. The trade came as a bit of a surprise to many, but was made with an eye towards the future and added flexibility for RSL’s front office. Silva was drafted by Toronto in 2012, but after being traded to DC, he had a breakout season in 2014.

There’s also the dangling carrot of the US Open Cup in which RSL now has to be considered a favorite after a thrilling 1-0 upset of the star studded LA Galaxy and the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League-a tournament with which Silva is also quite familiar, having played in and advanced deep with D.C. United. But he has been beset by injuries as of late and started only 1 match this year. Silva is not exactly a long term project, but he is younger than Saborio (26 to 33) and more affordable. Montreal sent defender Bakary Soumare to Dallas in exchange for Canadian midfielder Kyle Bekker.