Eskandarian trade finalized

More than a week after Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA agreed on the Alecko Eskandarian trade, the league finally approved it on Friday, just hours before the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.

In exchange for Eskandarian, who RSL acquired in a trade with Toronto FC in the middle of 2007 season, it received a major allocation from Chivas USA — essentially a $125,000 boost in the salary cap.

"We sincerely appreciate Alecko's contributions to Real Salt Lake during his short time with the team," said RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey. "He is a great teammate, a tireless worker on the field and a talented player, but we have some good young players at his position and it became clear this move was in the best interests of both parties. We wish him all the best."

During his tenure with RSL, the hard-working Eskandarian started in all 17 of his appearances while contributing a goal and a team-high-tying three assists across 1,428 minutes of play.

When combined with his time at Toronto FC, Eskandarian tallied two goals and three assists in 23 regular season contests during the 2007 campaign. The five-year MLS veteran and 2004 MLS Cup MVP heads to Chivas USA with 22 goals and 10 assists during 104 career regular season appearances (70 starts) with D.C. United, Toronto FC, and Real Salt Lake to go along with four goals and one helper in seven MLS Cup Playoff contests with United.