Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was selected on Tuesday afternoon by Major League Soccer expansion team Minnesota United FC.
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was selected on Tuesday afternoon by Major League Soccer expansion team Minnesota United FC. Attinella was one of five current MLS players selected by Minnesota and Atlanta United.
“I’m thankful for the opportunities I got with Real Salt Lake,” Attinella said in a statement. “I made some of the best friends I’ll ever have and the support the team and the fans gave to me and my wife is what means the most to me.”
Attinella played four seasons with RSL, starting 28 matches and playing in another. He recorded five shutouts while compiling a 7-15-6 record, reliably backing up RSL star keeper Nick Rimando.
“I’m a little disappointed for the club, but we are excited for Jeff and the new opportunities he has,” Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel said. “Jeff was a great piece to our locker room for four years and was always someone we could rely on when he was called upon.”
RSL had protected eleven players from expansion in addition to home-grown players:
GK Nick Rimando
DF Tony Beltran
DF Aaron Maund
DF Demar Phillips
DF Chris Schuler
MF Kyle Beckerman
MF Luke Mulholland
MF Sunday Stephen
FW Yura Movsisyan
FW Joao Plata
Draft Results
Round 1
Atlanta: Donny Toia (Montreal Impact)
Minnesota: Chris Duvall (New York Red Bulls)
Round 2
Atlanta: Zach Loyd (FC Dallas)
Minnesota: Collen Warner (Houston Dynamo)
Round 3
Atlanta: Clint Irwin (Toronto FC)
Minnesota: Mohammed Saeid (Columbus Crew SC)
Round 4
Atlanta: Mikey Ambrose (Orlando City SC)
Minnesota: Jeff Attinella (Real Salt Lake)
Round 5
Atlanta: Alec Kann (Sporting Kansas City)
Minnesota: Femi Hollinger-Janzen (New England Revolution
