Real Salt Lake youngster Luis Gil took the option to turn down a youth academy offer from Arsenal as a 16-year old.
The now-20-year old midfielder was a target for the Gunners as a teenager but decided to remain in his homeland in order to develop with a MLS club.
Gil had options at the time but ended up with RSL via a weighted lottery and a closed-bidding trade and he feels it has been the right choice as it has helped him grow into a role with Utah club who on the weekend were beaten in the MLS Cup final by Sporting Kansas City on penalties.
"It was obviously a blessing to have the opportunity to play professional but at the same time it was a scary moment, a nervous moment making such a big decision," Gil toldMLSsoccer.com.
Of his situation, which would have seen him spend time on loan in Mexico and Spain in order to obtain a UK work permit, Gil added: "Not many people know what the situation was. It wasn't like I was going to go straight to London with Arsenal."
And on the move to Real Salt Lake, despite SKC holding his rights, Gil further added: "I was fortunate that I was given the decision to kind of choose a few teams that I wanted to go to. That made it a little easier on me that I had an idea of where I was going."
