Zavier Gozo completes transfer from Real Salt Lake to Crystal Palace on five-year deal
Zavier Gozo has signed for Premier League club Crystal Palace from Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake on Tuesday, agreeing a five-year contract reportedly worth around $15m (£11m). The 19-year-old US youth international has impressed in MLS this season and is regarded as close to breaking into the US national team.
Gozo and Real Salt Lake team-mate Diego Luna were omitted from Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for this summer’s World Cup, a rejection Gozo said left him surprised and more motivated. “I thought I would be less disappointed than I was,” Gozo said in May. “Obviously, it wasn’t like I was supposed to go. I feel like I was disappointed, but I also think it just gave me so much more motivation to be able to make the first team, whenever that is.” If his move to Palace goes well, the transfer could accelerate his path to senior international selection.
Gozo joined Real Salt Lake’s academy in 2021 at the age of 14 and made his debut for RSL’s second team, Real Monarchs, a year later. He made his MLS debut in 2023 when he was 16 and, over time, became an option at right wing-back noted for confidence on the ball. In his first full season for RSL he recorded four goals and three assists across 1,810 minutes.
This season he has been deployed with greater freedom to push higher up the pitch, producing six goals and five assists in 1,417 minutes so far. Observers have pointed to his close-quarter technique, with deft touches and passes helping Real Salt Lake advance into dangerous areas, and his end product includes both creating chances and finishing opportunities himself.
Per Futi, Gozo has completed 67 progressive carries upfield this season, a category the data provider lists alongside players such as Lionel Messi, Denis Bouanga, Evander and Anders Dreyer — four members of last year’s MLS Best XI. That statistic was cited as evidence of his capacity to carry play from deep into attacking positions.
Asked about his readiness to move overseas, Gozo said: “I feel like I’m ready to go,” and added without hesitation, “Whether that happens or not, I don’t know, but I think this is a unique situation I have. I’m blessed to be in a situation where I have such a good club to be at, but I also think, you know … What’s next in my career? I don’t know.”
Born to an American mother and an Ivorian father, Gozo received his first US youth international call-up in 2022 with the U-15s and has been a regular across the youth national teams. With Mauricio Pochettino stating he will stick with the USMNT through the 2030 World Cup, Gozo is positioned to compete with players from this summer’s squad over the next four years, while daily training at Palace with US international Chris Richards and any Premier League minutes he secures under new manager Pierre Sage will factor into his international prospects.