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Craig Waibel was able to put two check marks on his offseason wish list, both coming within the last two weeks. Real Salt Lake's general manager hasn't shied away from making the wish list public after the disappointment of 2015.

Waibel wanted to chase and sign: A center forward, a defensive midfielder and a center back.

RSL officially re-acquired striker Yura Movsisyan on Jan. 15 and signed Nigerian midfielder Sunday Stephen Obayan on Jan. 21. When Waibel will be able to put a final check mark on that wish list, however, remains up in the air. Despite agreeing on contract terms with a international center back he hasn't named, Waibel said Tuesday that the potential signing has recently hit a snag.

"Circumstances have changed at the last second in his personal life that changes the dynamics for him," he said. "It's my responsibility to continue to press to find another player while we honor our offer. We have to have a club-first mentality, in the end."

Waibel didn't rule out eventually finalizing the deal, but said he and the RSL technical staff will continue scouring the globe — and Major League Soccer — for that final addition in central defense.

"It is very difficult to find a starting center back, let alone trade for one," Waibel said. "Again, we're much like every other league in the world: No one's sitting on three or four starting center backs in our league. Once you really start looking to trade for one, what assets can you afford to give up to get it and how do you absorb those losses on your roster just to get one piece?"

Earlier this offseason, RSL was courting Colombian center back Oswaldo Henriquez, who in turn signed with Brazilian club Sport Club do Recife.

"That's part of this job is the exhaustion of the chase, of the identification of the right guy," Waibel said. "He's out there. We've found him twice this offseason. It's just been really unfortunate how the deals have not crossed the finish line, so it gives us the knowledge we know we're going to find someone we like, it's a matter of the timing of when."

Jamison Olave and Aaron Maund enter this preseason as incumbent starters at center back. Waibel said he's happy with the center back group RSL currently has with Olave, Maund, Justen Glad and Phanuel Kavita, but added he wants to still add more quality there.

"I need to challenge the status quo, which is Aaron Maund and Jamison Olave," he said. "It's not challenging the bottom. We're happy with the core of center backs we have. We need to add to the top of it, not the middle or the bottom."

Asked for an update on the state of negotiations with injured out-of-contract center back Chris Schuler, Waibel said discussions remain ongoing.

Waibel did confirm he and the staff have already began searching for trialists at center back to join the team at its first preseason stop in Oceanside, Calif.

"We're already looking at a couple of guys and getting them in sooner or later," he said.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani