Yura Movsisyan

Whether it was during his first stint with RSL, in the Russian Premier League or on the international stage, everywhere Movsisyan has been, he’s scored goals. The Armenian international makes excellent runs from his position as a center forward, and has the speed and skill to peel away from opposing defenders. He’s a clinical finisher once he gets the ball in front of goal, and his return to the Wasatch Front should add some punch to an RSL attack that finished 2015 as the second-lowest scoring team in the league.

Acquired
cquired on loan from Spartak Moscow as a Designated Player on January 15, 2016.

International

Movsisyan has been a regular call-up to the Armenian national team since making his international debut in 2010, participating in the country’s unsuccessful qualifying campaigns for the 2012 and 2016 European Championships and 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Professional
After spending the first four years of his career in MLS – first with Kansas City, then with RSL – Movsisyan moved to Danish club Randers following the 2009 season. He spent one year in Denmark, scoring 12 goals in 30 league appearances and adding five more in five UEFA Europa League matches before engineering a transfer to Russian Premier League side Krasnodar in January 2011. His first full season with the club was one of the best of his career, with Movsisyan scoring 14 goals in 37 appearances in the 2011-12 campaign.

He made a big money move to Russian giants Spartak Moscow halfway through the 2012-13 season. His 2013-14 season was his best with the club, when he scored 16 goals in 27 league matches and bagged two more in two UEFA Europa League contests. Despite that spectacular season, Movsisyan fell out of favor with Spartak over the last two years, scoring just five goals in 27 league appearances since the start of the 2014-15 campaign.

Movsisyan totaled 25 goals in 62 matches with Spartak, 48 goals in 112 matches in Russia and 60 goals in 142 league appearances in Europe.

2016: Returning to the club that he helped bring an MLS Cup in 2009, Movsisyan appeared in 29 games, starting 25. With nine goals and three assists to his name in 2,161 minutes he was the team’s joint leading goal-scorer alongside Joao Plata. Signed on loan as a Designated Player in January 2016, Movsisyan proved he was a just as lethal goal scorer as when he left the club in 2009.  Before the end of the season, RSL completed his transfer from Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League.

College
Movsisyan spent one year at Pasadena City College before being selected by Kansas City with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.