Sandy • Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna has been named Major League Soccer’s Young Player of the Year.
The 21-year-old had eight goals and 12 assists, helping RSL to a club-record 59 points, and was named to his first MLS All-Star team this season.
“I’m just excited and happy to tell my parents,” Luna said of winning the award on Thursday.
The announcement allowed Luna to reflect on the past and peek ahead at his future.
“It’s been crazy to think I’ve been here for three years. It’s felt so quick for me,” Luna said. “Just with more playing time I’ve gotten, I’ve realized how much more of a special place this club is and being able to showcase myself and express myself with all the fans it’s just been a pleasure for me.
But as Luna’s star rises, the question for RSL this offseason is whether it can hold onto its creative, attacking midfielder.
“There are some clubs interested in Diego,” RSL Sporting Director Kurt Schmid said Wednesday. “He’s obviously a very talented young player. He’s got his career ambitions and his dreams, and when those things become real … then we’ll sit down and have that conversation.”
In March, RSL signed Luna to a new contract with options that could keep him in Salt Lake through 2028. But RSL has shown a willingness to part with young talent, as it did with Fidel Barajas ($4 million transfer to Chivas Guadalajara) and Andres Gomez ($11 million transfer to Rennes), if the price is right.
“We’re happy with what Diego’s done with us,” Schmid said. “If he stays five years that would be great. If we sell him this winter and it’s the right opportunity for him and the club, then that’s great too.”
In the meantime, RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni wants Luna to build on his successful third season in Salt Lake.
“When he first got here, I would have said Diego’s a talented player in the middle of the field, and now he’s becoming a talented player around the box and, more importantly, scoring goals,” the coach said.
Mastroeni also praised Luna’s leadership skills and mental toughness.
“There were moments this year where he wasn’t in great form, and he was surprised when I pulled him out of the team,” the coach said. “And what I saw was an unbelievable response at any time that happened.”
Luna said he has worked hard to better handle the ups and downs of both the game and life.
“A new thing I’m following by is just embracing uncertainty. It’s just kind of going with the flow and knowing that things are going to go right and wrong, but just staying above it and knowing that that’s life,” he said.
That would include any thoughts about his future.
“Just with more playing time I’ve gotten, I’ve realized how much more of a special place this club is and being able to showcase myself and express myself with all the fans it’s just been a pleasure for me,” he said.
“I want to continue to be that guy for RSL. I want to get better and better every year until there’s a time I’m not here anymore. I just want to continue to do my best and work hard for the club and show everybody how much RSL means to me. So if there’s a day I leave here, I leave a good legacy and a good vibe for myself and how people think of me.”
