Crystal Palace signs US teenager Gozo in $15M club record sale for Real Salt Lake

LONDON (AP) — Crystal Palace added to its squad for another European campaign by signing United States youth international Zavier Gozo in a club record sale for Real Salt Lake.

The Conference League titleholder signed the 19-year-old winger to a five-year contract late Monday. The transfer fee was reportedly $15 million.

Real Salt Lake said in a statement it will “retain a significant percentage of any future transfer fee for Gozo,” who it said was the first Utah native to join a Premier League club.

Palace starts the Premier League at Everton on Saturday and will play in the second-tier Europa League. UEFA makes the league phase draw in Monaco next week.

After scoring at the World Cup for Canada, forward Promise David is moving to Brighton on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise.

Brighton said its deal for the 25-year-old David “includes an obligation to buy should certain criteria be met.” He played in four of co-host Canada's games at the World Cup and scored in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in the group stage.

Belgian league runner-up Union was eliminated in the Champions League qualifying rounds last week, against Bodø/Glimt, and will play in the Europa League where its expected prize money drops by tens of millions of euros.

Brighton and Union have close ties through their owners and share player data analysis by Jamestown Analytics. The data firm founded by Brighton owner Tony Bloom is renowned in European soccer and also used by Como and Heart of Midlothian.

Brighton hosts Aston Villa, the Europa League titleholder, in their Premier League opener on Sunday. Brighton is in the third-tier Conference League this season and has a first-leg game on Thursday in the qualifying playoffs at Tromsø in Norway.

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FILE - Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo, right, scores a goal past Club America goaltender Ángel Malagón during a Leagues Cup soccer match, on July 30, 2025, in Sandy, Utah. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate, File)

SYDNEY (AP) — Michael Cheika is set to return as head coach of the New South Wales Waratahs a dozen years after guiding the Sydney-based franchise to its only Super Rugby title.

The 59-year-old Cheika, who was Australia's head coach when the Wallabies reached the 2015 World Cup final in England, will start back at the Waratahs in November after coaching Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup.

“The Waratahs have always occupied a special place for me — it’s my home state and I feel ready to return as head coach ahead of an important year for the Waratahs and also for Australian rugby in the lead up to the home Rugby World Cup,” Cheika said.

Cheika left the Wallabies' top job after a quarterfinal exit at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and then steered Argentina to the semifinals at the 2023 World Cup in France.

Cheika also had success at the club level in the northern hemisphere, guiding Leinster to the 2009 European Cup glory.

“He’s a proven winner and (has) a really good track record of success,” Waratahs high performance manager BJ Mather said. "We don’t want to hark back to 2014 all the time, but you know he’s the last Waratahs head coach to have won the Super Rugby (title), so he sees an opportunity here to try and build something again to make the Waratahs successful.”

The Waratahs have failed to reach the Super Rugby playoffs in the last three seasons under Dan McKellar and Darren Coleman.

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FILE - Argentina's head coach Michael Cheika prior to the Rugby World Cup third place match between England and Argentina at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, file)