Nelson Gonzalez's days with Real Salt Lake might be over

SANDY — Nelson Gonzalez's future with Real Salt Lake hangs in the balance this week.

He wants to stay, RSL wants him to stay, but will the price be right for his Argentina club Quilmes Atletico to make it possible?

Gonzalez has been on loan with RSL since last summer, but that loan expires this Thursday with the opening of the FIFA transfer window.

"We're working on it. We won't know till we know," said RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey. "We're trying to re-sign him; those discussions are ongoing."

By Thursday, the 21-year-old Argentine midfielder will know if he'll be around to help RSL defend its MLS title or if he'll be packing his bags for South America.

Lagerwey said there's a buyout proposal on the table with Quilmes Atletico: There's another loan proposal and a hybrid of the two. Gonzalez's salary isn't the issue, but rather the loan fee that RSL would then have to cram into the salary cap.

RSL's GM said he's cautiously optimistic a deal will get done, particularly since the club has a great working relationship with Gonzalez's agent, Alejandro Taraciuk. He's the same agent who helped Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola find their way to Real Salt Lake.

Gonzalez has been severely limited by a hamstring strain this season, which likely has decreased Quilmes Atletico's bargaining power.

Gonzalez has only played one minute in RSL's last seven matches, and even prior to that, he'd only made one start. At times, he's appeared promising, but at other times, he's struggled to grasp the concept of RSL's diamond midfield formation.

Despite some shortcomings, he brings a different dimension to Real Salt Lake as a true outside midfielder. Coach Jason Kreis even acknowledged after Friday's 0-0 draw with San Jose that he would've loved to bring a player like Gonzalez on as a substitute to stretch the field and break down the Earthquakes. It wasn't an option, as the hamstring kept Gonzalez out of the lineup again.

Despite the lingering hamstring issues, Lagerwey said the club still thinks very highly of Gonzalez.

"He's been here for a year. I think Nelson's done what he has to do to prove himself, and we'd like to keep him," said Lagerwey.

Whether he stays or not, it's all about RSL's bottom line.

"For every player, there's a number that makes sense and a number that doesn't, and if we get to a number that makes (sense), then we'll keep him. And if we don't, we'll have that much more money to do some more stuff this summer."

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com