RSL signs Welsh international, Tennessee native at outside back


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SANDY — Real Salt Lake went across the pond for defensive reinforcements.

The Sandy-based Major League Soccer side announced Tuesday the signing of Welsh international defender Adam Henley. The Knoxville, Tennessee, native will join the club in time for the 2018 preseason at the end of January, pending the receipt of an international transfer certificate.

Details of the player’s contract were not immediately available.

Henley, 23, joins RSL after six seasons and 80 appearances with Blackburn Rovers in the second-division English League Championship. The 5-foot-10 right back grew up in the Blackburn academy, which signed him in 2011 and promoted him to the then-Premier League side at 17 years old.

Since then, he's struggled with injuries, which led to him seeking out a spot in MLS. RSL was a frontrunner to land him in his return to the country of his birth.

“I’m really excited to begin my journey at Real Salt Lake,” Henley said in a statement from the club. “It’s a fantastic opportunity, a well-run, well-supported club. I feel this is a great chance for me to reignite my career and get back to playing my best football.”

Henley has two caps with the Wales national team, coming off the bench in a pair of international friendlies against the Netherlands and Ukraine.

The son of an American father and Welsh mother, Henley moved to England when he was 2 years old, where he was raised.

He joins veteran right back Tony Beltran, who suffered an injury at the end of 2017 that could keep him out for the beginning of the 2018 season, as well as defenders Danilo Acosta, Justen Glad, David Horst, Demar Phillips, Marcelo Silva, Salt Lake City native Taylor Peay and recent RSL academy signing Aaron Herrera.

Real Salt Lake’s first match of the preseason comes Feb. 3 against L.A. Galaxy in the Mobile Mini Sun Cup in Tucson, Arizona.

Blackburn's Adam Henley, right, and Corry Evans fight for the ball against Liverpool's Raheem Sterling, center, during the English FA Cup sixth round replay soccer match between Blackburn and Liverpool at Ewood Park Stadium, Blackburn, England, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Blackburn's Adam Henley, right, and Corry Evans fight for the ball against Liverpool's Raheem Sterling, center, during the English FA Cup sixth round replay soccer match between Blackburn and Liverpool at Ewood Park Stadium, Blackburn, England, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

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