Lehi » Real Salt Lake will face Mexican powerhouse Club America tonight in what is expected to be one of most challenging friendlies in RSL team history.

With that in mind, Real Salt Lake would like nothing more than to have perfect conditions going into the 6 p.m. matchup at Rio Tinto Stadium.

But lately, things have been anything but.

The most recent development regarding forward Yura Movsisyan may have been the best news yet. In a Friday morning session with the media, RSL general manager Garth Lagerway confirmed that Movsisyan, whose status had been a mystery after he recently signed a contract with Denmark's Club Randers, would be with the team for the remainder of the season.

Lagerway confirmed that Randers had made repeated attempts to buy out Movsisyan's contract in order to get the 21-year-old overseas in time for the start of its season, which begins next month. But those talks, said Lagerway, broke down for good last night.

As a result, Movsisyan, Real Salt Lake's most dynamic offensive player, will be in the fold for the remainder of the season, at which point Movsisyan will join his new team in January's midseason.

"We're excited about this," Lagerway said. "We're happy to keep Yura and the we're happy that he's going to have the opportunity to contribute and to lead us to the playoffs."

With Lagerway's comments on the matter, it's clear that the RSL brass is relieved to have Movsisyan. But is Movsisyan happy to be here? That's the lingering question, and one that will hang in the air for a bit, judging by Movsisyan's comments after Friday's practice.

The forward admitted to media members on Friday that he'd rather go for family reasons, as his wife is expecting a child in December. Because of that, Movsisyan said, it would be easier for him to start with his new team and move his family now, rather than deal with the stress of moving a family with a newborn.

"It would've been easier in that regard to go now," Movsisyan said. "But I'm here. I want to help this team make the playoffs, and I want to go out on a high. We couldn't come to an agreement, so I'm here."

With Movsisyan back in the fold, Real Salt Lake is spared the anguish of attempting to lure a big-name striker to Utah in his stead. Lagerway said that for depth reasons RSL will bring in at least one and maybe two players in the coming weeks when the free agent window opens up. But not having to replace Movsisyan makes that search a little easier.

Lagerway did say that he was looking for a player who is currently competing internationally, yet one who speaks English.

"We need somebody who's going to come in and mesh right away with the other guys," Lagerway said.

With Movsisyan back, the only thing Real Salt Lake needs is a healthy Robbie Findley, who has scored six goals this season at forward and is still nursing the sprained ankle that he suffered against Colorado a month ago.

Findley dressed but didn't play in the win over Toronto two weeks ago. Last week he played 30 minutes off the bench, and he's slated to start tonight for the first time since the injury.

Findley's not expected to play the entire match. He will at least play the first half, and may play the first 60 minutes. At either rate, Findley, who had the ankle heavily iced following Friday's practice, is just happy to be back in the lineup.

"It's still not 100 percent," Findley said. "But it's getting there. It's very important that I get it healthy. I have to just keep doing rehab, and doing the right things. I'm happy to be out there, so I just have to take care of it. If not, I may have to take a week off to let it heal."

tjones@sltrib.com