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SANDY — His phone rang early Wednesday morning, and by Wednesday night Justin Braun was back in Salt Lake City, his stomping grounds, as Real Salt Lake's newest forward.
“I’m looking forward to getting after it and starting things up,” said Braun, a Salt Lake City-native who was traded from Montreal to Salt Lake Wednesday. “It’s nice to be back home and being able to play in front of friends and family. I think it’s going to be a special experience for me.”
Being back in Salt Lake City and being acquired by his hometown Major League Soccer club is an experience Braun has always dreamed of.
“I remember five years ago I was up in the stands as a fan,” said Braun. “I was always dreaming of being able to step on that field and put on the jersey. Now to get that opportunity, it‘s been a dream come true for me and I’m looking to go out there and do whatever I can to help this team to win.”
Braun, a player that took a non-traditional route into MLS, has spent the last five years with two different clubs — four seasons with Chivas USA and the current season with MLS expansion team Montreal.
RSL had Braun in its sights for awhile before making the move to get him.
“We’ve had conversations off and on about Justin for a couple years,” said Garth Lagerwey, RSL general manager and senior VP of soccer operations. “We (had) some serious conversations back in January around the expansion draft where he eventually wound up getting traded from Chivas to Montreal. But the problem (was the) price wasn’t ever right and Justin’s had a little bit of a down year and we always try to buy when the stock is a little bit low.
"So hopefully we can rejuvenate him with our coaching staff and Jason Kreis really has a excellent track record of developing young strikers and hopefully it’s the same with Justin.”
Lagerwey and the rest of the Salt Lake club look forward to seeing what Braun can do for the Claret and Cobalt and are confident they made a good decision by adding him.
“He’s got a motor. He doesn’t stop working. And he battles and he fights,” said Lagerwey. “He’s the type of player when he’s playing against you that it’s easy to root against him and when he’s playing for you, you’re really happy to have him. He’s a great kid and he’s a big body that allows us to give a couple different looks.”
Although Braun has had a tough season with Montreal, Lagerwey and RSL are confident with his goal-scoring abilities. “We’re not hoping here, we know this kid can score in our league,” said Lagerwey.
Braun will sport the No. 13 for the Claret and Cobalt and is looking forward to wear the RSL jersey on the pitch.
“You know, the jersey’s nice — nice and soft on the skin,” joked Braun after putting it on for media interviews. “I like the colors and I’m definitely honored to be able to have this crest on and the star right there and hopefully we can add to it.”
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
