Real Salt Lake working 'around the clock' to replace Albert Rusnak

After the departure of star midfielder Albert Rusnak, Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni admits the club is working 'around the clock' to fill the vacancy. 

Rusnak announced the shocking move to the Seattle Sounders on Thursday, signing with the Western Conference club as a Designated Player through the 2023 Major League Soccer season with an option for 2024. 

He left RSL in free agency. 

The midfielder spent five seasons with Real Salt Lake, joining in 2017 from Eredivisie club FC Groningen. He recorded 41 goals and 39 assists in 140 appearances for the Utah club, and served as the Claret-and-Cobalt's captain last season. 

Now, RSL are left with the daunting task of replacing the player. 

"Obviously Albert was a big player for this club, was a big player for us last year," Mastroeni said on Friday. "Listen, as a technical staff we're working diligently to find that replacement, and hopefully we do that sooner than later.

"There's a ton of factors that go into bringing a player of Albert, his quality, back to the group. At the end of the day, it's a free market. There's so many factors that go into decisions like that. I exchanged texts with Albert yesterday, he's excited to be in Seattle and really now it's about moving forward and finding a player that's going to come in and produce like Albert did for our group."

But the club does not have a lot of time as the 2022 Major League Soccer season kicks off on February 26. RSL is set to visit the Houston Dynamo on the 27 for their season opener. 

"There's not an hour in the day that goes by where we're not in communication with players both abroad and throughout the league," Mastroeni said. "We have a few good targets but again the players abroad are in the middle of their season. It's a really tough window to get players, especially with time left on their contract. There's contractual issues that arise. Players within the league that are of that caliber are obviously in a similar situation that Albert was in, as a free agent.

"We're working around the clock to make sure we're doing our due diligence and making sure we've got the right fit and obviously having the opportunity to secure a player. I'm optimistic that we'll find that player before the season starts, but I think the most important part of this whole thing is to make sure we get the right fit and not hurry ourselves in getting a player just to fill that void."

This comes as yet another change for the club after turning over ownership last week with David Blitzer and Ryan Smith taking over. The club also announced five homegrown contracts in 2022 and re-signed experienced veterans.