Buy, sell or hold.
Those are typically the three options when it comes to investing in the stock market.
Real Salt Lake Sporting Director Kurt Schmid seems to be choosing the latter when it comes to the Major League Soccer summer transfer window, which opens on Monday.
In the parlance of Wall Street, Schmid is bullish on this year’s RSL squad, which sits in third place in the Western Conference through 14 of its 34 fixtures.
Despite losing three starters in Braian Ojeda, Brayan Vera and Diogo Goncalves, RSL reloaded and managed to win eight of its first 14 games, including seven at home.
“The team’s done so well in the first 14 games that it’s not so much a matter of which one of these guys do we need to bench or replace, but it’s trying to hold on to what we have,” Schmid said.
Summertime transfers
The last two summer transfer windows have come with a bit of trepidation for RSL fans after the club made the record sale of Andres Gomez in August 2024. It was a decision that Schmid admitted was one of the reasons that season “didn’t finish as strong as it started.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Diego Luna as Real Salt Lake hosts Inter Miami, MLS soccer in Sandy on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
RSL achieved a club record 59 points in the regular season that year, but also suffered its third consecutive first-round elimination in the MLS Cup playoffs, a trend that continued into 2025.
The steady ascent of Diego Luna over the last four years and the meteoric rise of Zavier Gozo over the last 18 months have brought increased speculation that one of the two could end up being the next Gomez — a star leaving midseason and taking any chance at a trophy with them.
“There’s a lot of interest in our guys,” Schmid said. “Job one is to hold on to what we have and make a run for the end of the season, and then job two is how do we enhance it?”
Transfermarkt, the most popular online portal for soccer transfer rumors, lists four European teams linked to Gozo — including Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa — and two to Luna this year alone, though no new rumors have appeared since May.
The two attackers lead all RSL players in estimated market value on Transfermarkt. However, the $9 million price tag assigned to Luna and $7 million on Gozo both fall a little short of the number RSL eventually felt compelled to sell Gomez for: a reported $11 million.
“There’s always a point where the price gets to the stage where it’s like, ‘We gotta kind of take this,’” Schmid said. “That being said, we’re not there, and no clubs who are buying want to pay that price either.”
The Athletic’s Tom Bogert reported on July 2 that RSL rejected a $3.5 million bid for Luna from Liga MX side Monterrey, which came in “well below RSL’s valuation,” according to Bogert.
Window of opportunity
European clubs are in their primary transfer window at the moment, with teams finalizing rosters ahead of the start of their seasons in August. Starting next summer, MLS will be right there with them, but, for now, RSL’s offseason still happens in the winter.
RSL made its second and third biggest signings in club history at the start of 2026, bringing in winger French-Guinean Morgan Guilavogui for almost $6 million and Uruguayan left back Juan Manuel Sanabria for a little over $5 million.
Combining proven international talent with rapidly developing prospects has resulted in a special group coming together in 2026, according to Schmid, and it’s a group he’s reluctant to break up.
“We’ve been really clear in our internal communication that we think the group is not just good, but fits really well together on and off the field,” Schmid said. “And it’s not something we want to detract from in the summer.”
Does that mean the front office will put its phones on “do not disturb” for the next month? It’s highly unlikely.
The club already added one player this month, in fact, acquiring Georgian winger Saba Lobjanidze from Atlanta United in return for $625,000 in general allocation money. The 31-year-old from Tbilisi totaled 17 goals and 14 assists in three years with Atlanta.
“Ideally, with nobody leaving, it’s not so much who can we bring in over the top,” Schmid said. “But it’s how do we improve competition amongst the squad and have multiple starters in each position so that we have depth and rotation?”
Schmid said the team would like to add another “depth” piece on each line this summer, including a defender, midfielder and striker. The summer window opens earlier and closes later this season in MLS, giving RSL until Sept. 2 to finalize its roster for the playoff push.