Utah Royals FC have had a busy trade window. The club is preparing to re-enter the National Women’s Soccer League after a prior stint that began in 2018 and ended in 2020, and they’ll join the league in 2024 as an expansion franchise. The organization has been busy at work building up their roster ahead of the NWSL Expansion Draft with an interesting Monday.
The club signed its first franchise player, Mikayla Cluff, in a trade with Orlando Pride. Then, on Monday, Utah added three more players into the fold with Kaleigh Riehl from San Diego Wave FC in exchange for expansion draft protection and $60,000 in allocation money. They then acquired midfielders Emily Gray and Francesca “Frankie” Tagliaferri from the North Carolina Courage in exchange for $30,000 in Allocation Money and expansion protection.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Utah Royals FC – I can’t wait to bring women’s professional soccer back to Utah,” said Riehl, selected a year ago as one of San Diego’s expansion picks. “Amy Rodriguez has an immense amount of knowledge and experience in the game and I can’t wait to learn from her and her staff. I’m looking forward to competing with my teammates every day and contributing to this Club in any…
