This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The team has beaten the odds again, with Real Salt Lake winning a weighted lottery to acquire promising forward Cody Arnoux.It had only 5.4 percent chance of doing so.Now that it has, though, it's not quite sure what it's going to do with the former Wake Forest star who stuck with the Everton FC reserves in the English Premier League. Arnoux is coming off a serious knee injury three months ago — he needs another six weeks before he can train fully again, he said — and team officials expect first to examine him next week to see how the recovery is proceeding.Even then, it's hard to know whether the team will keep him or trade him — the way it did with young defender Kyle Davies when RSL won his rights (despite only a 5 percent chance) in a special lottery in 2009. Arnoux might not fit well under the team's plans or salary budget, and might be worth more as a tradeable commodity.But for now, anyway, Arnoux said he's excited to join RSL."I don't know a whole lot about them," he told MLSSoccer.com, "but I couldn't be more excited. I know that [Robbie] Findley left and he was a great striker. So it leaves a little door open for me. It's a good fit. I've watched them play. … It's a great organization and I'm super stoked to be with them."