Real Salt Lake have retained the services of Costa Rican forward Alvaro Saborio until 2014.

The MLS club have purchased his contract after spending the 2010 season on loan from Swiss club FC Sion and he will now remain an RSL player for the next four years.

Saborio, named the 2010 MLS Newcomer of the Year, now becomes RSL's first-ever Designated Player in a move applauded by the club's general manager Garth Lagerwey.

"First and foremost, I must express the deepest gratitude to Real Salt Lake ownership for stepping up and making the moves necessary to keep this team together," said Lagerwey.

"We are delighted that Álvaro has made a long-term commitment to Real Salt Lake, and we hope this signing contributes to our future success. Our attendance has steadily increased since we moved into Rio Tinto Stadium and that increased fan support is one of the primary reasons we as an organization were able to make this happen. As our franchise continues to grow we will continue to plow resources back into the team to give us the best chance to win. Without their fervent dedication to our sport and our stadium in this community, we would be unable to make the Team the Star it has become locally, nationally and regionally."