Sandy, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Real Salt Lake announced on Friday the club has traded defender Lovel Palmer to the Chicago Fire in exchange for allocation money.
Per league and club policy, the amount of allocation money exchanged was not disclosed.
Palmer spent one year with RSL, appearing 17 times and making 14 starts in regular season play and making 21 appearances and 16 starts across all competitions. The 29-year-old Jamaican was selected by RSL on Dec. 14, 2012 in Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft and signed a contract with the team several weeks later.
"I'd like to thank Lovel on behalf of the Real Salt Lake organization for his contributions to the team," RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey said. "He was an important part of our on-field success and a very good presence in the locker room this year. We wish him all the best in Chicago."
"Real Salt Lake will always have a special place in my heart," Palmer said. "I wouldn't trade this last season with RSL for anything. If someone said to me at the beginning of the year that we would do it all over again, that RSL and Sporting Kansas City would be in MLS Cup and Kansas City would win, I wouldn't trade teams.
I wouldn't trade the Real Salt Lake experience for the MLS Cup. That's how much being with RSL, being in Salt Lake City and in Utah meant to me. It's a bittersweet moment knowing I won't be in that locker room again next year, but at the same time I'm excited to be with the Fire and stay with [Chicago Assistant Coach and former RSL Assistant] C.J. Brown. Joining Chicago is a very exciting opportunity and I'm really looking forward to being with the Fire."
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