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Yura Movsisyan left the comfort of Real Salt Lake over six years ago for the unknowns of life as a young professional soccer player in Europe. On Tuesday, he returned, walking through the glass doors of the club's new downtown team store with a cream-colored RSL scarf draped over his shoulders.

"Now I'm back to prove that I'm going to be one of the best strikers in this league," he said.

Seated front-and-center, flanked by RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen, general manager Craig Waibel, coach Jeff Cassar and agent Patrick McCabe, Movsisyan held up that familiar No. 14 he donned as a talented striker just tapping into his abilities during his three years at RSL from 2007 to 2009.

He returns to a forward corps in need of an alpha presence — which he vowed to be during his news conference.

"I didn't come back to MLS and relax and enjoy my career. No. I'm here to win championships and I'm here to win games and I'm here to prove it because I still have a chip on my shoulder with everything that I've done," he said.

A move over two years in the making came to fruition on Jan. 15, when RSL announced it had re-acquired the Armenian striker on a one-year loan from Russian magnate Spartak Moscow. In 112 appearances in the Russian Premier League, Movsisyan scored 48 goals dating back to 2011, when he transferred from Danish club Randers FC to Russia's FC Krasnodar.

Tuesday was Movsisyan's first time back to Utah since late 2009, after he played a vital role in RSL's MLS Cup title run that year. He said the last time he remembered being in Salt Lake City was the celebratory team dinner days after RSL defeated the L.A. Galaxy on penalty kicks in the 2009 MLS Cup final in Seattle.

Prior to propelling RSL into the postseason and throughout the run to the championship, Movsisyan had signed a pre-contract with Randers FC because his deal with MLS was set to expire at the end of the season.

"It was painful to see someone of his caliber not be here, but the money MLS could offer could not even compare to what he could earn in Europe and Russia," Hansen said. "He clearly made a life choice decision to come [back] here and it wasn't about money."

It was a tough loss for RSL to overcome, having dealt for Movsisyan — who was drafted by Kansas City — in 2007 and seeing him bloom. But he's back now after telling his agent two years ago that he wanted to explore the idea of returning to MLS, and more specifically RSL.

"I needed to come back, I wanted to come back and I'm extremely, extremely excited to be back," he said. "And [I am] thankful to everybody that they could get me back. Now it's my turn to do the job, and I will do the job."

To finalize the move, Movsisyan was summoned from his home in Southern California to take a 19-hour flight back to Moscow to sign documents with his former club. In all, he was in Moscow for 12 hours before boarding a return flight to Southern California before eventually landing in Salt Lake City.

"I'm excited more than most to have what I consider one of the top world-class strikers here in Utah," Hansen said.

Movsisyan will be relied upon to deliver.

RSL's attack floundered in 2015, managing just 38 goals — the second-lowest output in MLS. Toss in the fact that the club's six strikers managed to combine for 19 goals in 34 games, and, well, the pressure will be on. Which is just fine to Movsisyan, who said he never puts a cap on an amount of goals he wants to score heading into a season.

"I've also never scored over 20 goals [in a season]," he said. "I'm going to do things I've never done before." —

About Yura Movsisyan

Position • Center forward

Age • 28

Hometown • Pasadena, Calif.

Birth place • Baku, Azerbaijan

School • Pasadena City College, drafted fourth overall by Kansas City in 2007 MLS SuperDraft

Re-acquired • RSL completed one-year loan for Movsisyan's return in 2016

Professional track record • Kansas City Wizard (2006-2007), Real Salt Lake (2007-2009), Randers FC (2010-2011), FC Krasnodar (2011-2012), Spartak Moscow (2012-2016), Real Salt Lake (on loan in 2016)

A proven goal-scorer • Scored 25 goals in 62 matches in four seasons at Spartak Moscow after scoring 23 goals in 50 goals at FC Krasnador. Had 20 goals in MLS between Kansas City and RSL in his four season in MLS before moving to Europe. In three seasons at RSL, Movsisyan had 15 goals in 53 regular-season appearances. During the 2012 UEFA Euro qualifying tournament, Movsisyan scored four goals and had five assists for the Armenian national team.