HERRIMAN, UT (Thursday, April 27, 2023) – Real Salt Lake acquired up to $350,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) from Charlotte FC in exchange for four-year RSL and 13-year MLS veteran Justin Meram at the close of Monday’s primary Major League Soccer transfer window, MLS announced today. The GAM will be split between 2023 ($100,000 guaranteed) and 2024 ($100,000) league seasons, with another $150,000 in 2024 GAM received by RSL if certain conditional milestones are met by Meram in Charlotte.
“First and foremost, all of us at RSL must express tremendous gratitude to Justin Meram for his quality and leadership on and off the field during his 94 games played wearing the Claret-and-Cobalt,” said RSL General Manager Elliot Fall, wishing luck to Meram in his future endeavors with Charlotte and beyond.
Major League Soccer’s secondary 2023 transfer window opens July 5, and closes August 2.
In his four seasons with Real Salt Lake, Meram recorded eight goals and 16 assists in 91 appearances, after arriving prior to the 2020 campaign as a free agent. In 2022, Meram led the Utah side with seven assists, appearing in all but one match (due to international duty with the Iraq National Team). During his Claret-and-Cobalt tenure, Meram helped lead RSL to back-to-back Audi MLS Playoff appearances in 2021 and 2022. Meram provided the game-winning assist for FW Bobby Wood against Sporting Kansas City in the Western Conference Semifinal to give the team its first Western Conference Final appearance since 2013. Additionally, Meram’s game-winning assist to MF Damir Kreilach in the 2021 “Decision Day” match Sporting Kansas City, dubbed the “Damiracle,'' gave RSL a last-gasp playoff berth under then-interim Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni.
TRANSACTIONS: On April 24, 2023, Real Salt Lake acquires $200,000 in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) from Charlotte FC in exchange for FW Justin Meram, with the possibility of an additional $150,000 in conditional 2024 GAM.
