Jordan Allen, once one of Real Salt Lake’s most promising prospects, is going to miss yet another season due to injury.
The 23-year-old RSL academy product was placed on the club’s season-ending injury list Thursday. Allen is still dealing with the lingering effects of knee surgery that kept him out of all of 2018.
“It has been a long and tedious recovery for Jordan and after meeting with him, we collectively agreed that this would be the best for everyone,” RSL general manager Craig Waibel said in a club release. “We will continue to support him as he pursues a return to full health. Jordan has been a fixture in our organization for several years now and will continue to be a part of the RSL Family for years to come.”
Allen had not trained with RSL during the club’s preseason leading up to the announcement. As early as two seasons ago, Allen was one of the club’s most-touted, up-and-coming academy prospects. Between 2015 and 2016, Allen started in 22 regular-season games and appeared in 46 MLS matches. He scored three goals and had two assists in 2016 and was on his way to vying for a full-time starting spot again in 2017 when he was dealt another setback in a young career filled with them.
In June 2017, Allen underwent a season-ending knee surgery to repair a left knee femoral chondral defect. During Allen’s rookie year in 2014, he underwent season-ending microfracture knee surgery on his right leg. In spring 2016, Allen had preseason heart surgery to fix a previously undiagnosed condition that caused elevated heart rate and fatigue.
Allen, the sixth RSL academy player to ever sign a first-team contract, has also been outspoken regarding political issues and opened up to the Salt Lake Tribune in 2017 about why he’s passionate about voicing his own opinion.
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