SALT LAKE CITY — After helping Real Salt Lake with the MLS Cup in 2009, Yura Movsisyan went to Europe for a bigger paycheck and a chance to play at the highest level of the sport.
Six years later, after playing in Denmark and Russia, Movsisyan is back with RSL.
“I’m extremely happy to be home,” he said. “Real Salt Lake is home because when I left I won a championship in Salt Lake, and that was the best thing that had happened to me and RSL at the time.”
The club in Russia, Spartak Moscow, didn’t want him to leave after watching him score 48 goals in four and a half seasons in the Russian Premier League. But they finally agreed to a one-year loan.
This move brings him closer to his family in California, and his RSL family. They expect him to fit right in.
“The way Yura comes back to us is more a seasoned professional,” said RSL head coach Jeff Cassar. “With the players that are going to surround him we’re just going to put him into positions to score goals.”
“Six years ago I was a totally different player,” Movsisyan said. “I think now playing in different leagues, different countries has made me a stronger player.”
At 28 years old he’s in the prime of his career, and he expects big things in his second stint with RSL.
“I didn’t come back to MLS to relax and enjoy my career,” Movsisyan said. “I’m here to win championships. I still have a chip on my shoulder, now I’m back to prove that I’m going to be one of the best strikers in this league.”
