Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles make three-player trade

Jun 21, 2007, 21:30 GMT

Salt Lake City, UT - Real Salt Lake acquired forward Robbie Findley and defender/midfielder Nathan Sturgis from the Los Angeles Galaxy for four-time MLS All-Star midfielder Chris Klein on Thursday.

'Trading a veteran with the attributes and professionalism of a Chris Klein is never an easy thing to do, but making this deal allows us to bring in a pair of young players that are ready to step in and contribute right away,' Real Salt Lake Technical Director/Director of Soccer Operations John Ellinger said.

Findley has two goals in just 377 minutes - although he appeared in all nine of Los Angeles' games - of his rookie season. He was taken in the second round (16th overall) in January's MLS SuperDraft. Findley will be available for this Saturday's game against D.C. United.

'Robbie Findley is a player we had our eye in very closely during the draft in January, and his early results this year prove why he was so sought after,' Ellinger said.

Sturgis has been a member of numerous U.S. Youth National Teams and is currently training with Real Salt Lake's Freddy Adu and Chris Seitz as part of the U.S. under-20 national team. He will join RSL after the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which runs from June 30 to July 22 in Canada. Sturgis has started in 23 games in his season-and-a-half in MLS. He started eight of the Galaxy's nine games this season.

'With Nathan Sturgis we bring in a player that can fill several needs and whose experience and poise at such a young age will allow him to step in comfortably from day one,' Ellinger said.

Klein leaves Real Salt Lake as one of the club's career leaders with eight goals (third) and nine assists (second). The 10-year MLS veteran was the only RSL player to be on the field for all 990 minutes this season.

© 2007 The Sports Network