There is a changing tide in Major League Soccer when it comes to how teams approach the Designated Player rule. Of the 57 players occupying DP slots in the league in 2017, 11 of them were 23 years old or younger. As the league shifts to younger rising stars, it gives fans across the league a chance to catch talented players on their way to stardom, as opposed to the previously popular method of bringing players in in the final years of their careers.
Real Salt Lake has found itself on the forefront of that evolution with Albert Rusnák and Jefferson Savarino – the latter of whom was brought in on a full-time basis on Thursday after spending the 2017 season on loan from Zulia in his native Venezuela.