RSL Sends Paraguayan Midfielder to Orlando in Exchange for 2026, 2027 General Allocation Money, Plus Incentives
HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, January 2, 2026) – Real Salt Lake today acquired nearly $1.8 million in 2026/2027 General Allocation Money (GAM) and potential incentives from Orlando City SC in exchange for 25-year-old Paraguayan midfielder Braian Ojeda. The Utah side is guaranteed to receive $650,000 in 2026 GAM and another $650,000 in 2027 GAM, along with another potential $475,000 if certain performance-based incentives are met. RSL also retains a sell-on percentage of a future transfer or trade involving Ojeda.
“On behalf of everyone at Real Salt Lake, I’d like to thank Braian for his four seasons here in Utah,” said RSL Sporting Director Kurt Schmid. “We wish Braian and his family a prosperous 2026 with his national team and nothing but the best of luck in Orlando.”
During his four Major League Soccer campaigns with RSL from 2022-25, Ojeda appeared in 123 games across all competitions, scoring seven goals, including five of the seven scored during the most recent 2025 calendar year.
Three of Ojeda’s five goals during the 2025 RSL campaign arrived four days apart during the Leagues Cup, with his brace against Atlético San Luis preceding a game-winner against Queretaro. In the final MLS contest prior to the tourney against Liga MX foes, Ojeda provided his first-ever MLS game-winning goal in the 81st minute against San Jose Earthquakes. Those four goals in a four-game span arrived after scoring just twice in the previous 75 MLS matches.
Ojeda now enters Paraguay’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with 14 senior appearances since May, 2021, on the heels of 16 combined youth international matches played for his country. Paraguay and potentially Ojeda will open this summer’s World Cup campaign on Friday, June 12, against a United States side that could feature RSL playmaker Diego Luna. Australia and the winner of the UEFA Playoff C will also join that group.
Ojeda arrived in Utah in August, 2022, on loan after three appearances over one year with Nottingham Forest in the English Championship. That brief European move followed 37 games played over a three-year period in his native Paraguay with Olimpia, a spell broken up by 12 games on loan to Argentine side Defensa y Justicia in prior to the 2020 pandemic.
TRANSACTION: Real Salt Lake acquires $1.3 million in General Allocation Money ($650,000 in 2026 GAM and $650,000 in 2027 GAM) in exchange for midfielder Braian Ojeda. RSL could also receive up to an additional $475,000 in GAM if Ojeda reaches several performance-based metrics, while also retaining a sell-on percentage on Ojeda in the event of a future move.
In late November, RSL’s 2026 schedule was revealed, with the Club’s America First Field venue in Sandy slated to welcome global soccer icon Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF to Utah for the first – and perhaps only – occasion on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Join the 2026 RSL ticketing waitlist at www.RSL.com/tickets.
The Claret-and-Cobalt also released its complete 2026 preseason slate, various key dates during the celebratory 2026 FIFA World Cup year, and most importantly, the entire 34-game MLS regular season schedule (17 home games, 17 away in MLS), which features multiple international soccer legends who are expected to visit Sandy throughout 2026.
Top visiting athletes in addition to Messi and Co. expected to provide highly-anticipated moments include: Korean superstar Son Heung-min (Los Angeles Football Club, Sept. 5), German trophy king Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Sept. 19), beloved Mexican cult figure Chucky Lozano (San Diego FC, April 18) and another storied German star, Marco Reus (LA Galaxy, Nov. 7).
RSL’s complete 2026 regular season schedule is available at www.RSL.com.
Players, coaches and staff report next week ahead of the Club’s Jan. 10 preseason, which will feature 2026 preseason matches in Portugal and Southern California, as The Atlantic Cup tournament organizers and Coachella Valley schedule-makers solidified various slates.
Returning to Lagos, Portugal, where it had spent a portion of the 2024 preseason, Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side will play three games over 13 days in the back half of January as part of the annual Atlantic Cup tourney, with the first two matches against legendary Danish sides Randers FC (Jan. 22) – once home to former RSL striker Yura Movsisyan – and Bröndby (Jan. 26), a side also connected to David Blitzer’s Global Football Holdings.
RSL will conclude its Iberian peninsula experience against fellow MLS Western Conference foe FC Dallas (Jan. 30), before competing its 24-hour door-to-door travels, returning to Utah on Feb. 1
After spending the first week of February back in Utah, the Claret-and-Cobalt then wrap up its 22nd preseason slate with two games in Southern California, facing off against newly-transferred DF Kobi Henry’s former USL Championship side, Orange County SC (Feb. 7), as well as MLS Cup 2024 champions LA Galaxy (Feb. 13), the latter match being played outside of Palm Springs, Calif.
RSL then kicks off its 2026 Major League Soccer campaign on Sat., Feb. 21 at B.C. Place, home of the reigning Western Conference champion, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, one week prior to the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 2026 home opener at America First Field against long-time rival Seattle Sounders FC on Sat., Feb. 28. Both of RSL’s February games kick off at 5:30p MT, with season ticket and four-game packages available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
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