EL PASO, Texas – El Paso Locomotive FC has signed 19-year-old forward Chris Garcia from Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer ahead of the 2023 season, pending league and federation approval.
An El Paso native, Garcia spent the final months of the 2022 USL Championship season with Locomotive on loan from RSL, starting twice in his five appearances.
“Chris is an exciting young player that integrated immediately last year and played in every game he was available to us,” General Manager, Business & Technical Operations Andrew Forrest said. “We are excited to see him take the next steps in his development and provide an attacking spark off the wing for us. He is another shining example of the talent levels here in El Paso.”
With Real Salt Lake, he made his professional debut at the age of 17 during the 2020 season and notched four overall appearances with the club. Garcia was loaned out to Ljungskile SK in Sweden’s second division for the 2021 season, where he made five appearances.
He spent the majority of the 2022 season with MLS NEXT Pro side Real Monarchs, recording one goal and two assists in 10 matches.
At the Academy level, Garcia joined the RSL Academy ahead of the 2018 season and recorded 18 goals in 38 games, starting in 30 matches. He tallied seven goals in six matches during the 2019 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season and with the RSL U-17s, Garcia helped lift his side to an undefeated run in the USSDA Winter Showcase, scoring one goal in three appearances.
El Paso will be announcing more roster additions as the club gears up for a milestone fifth season in the USL Championship.
El Paso Locomotive’s roster as it currently stands for the 2023 USL Championship season is below, listed alphabetically by position:
GOALKEEPERS (0):
DEFENDERS (8): Eder Borelli, Ander Egiluz, Artem Kholod, Miles Lyons, Erik McCue, Marc Navarro, Martín Payares, Yuma.
MIDFIELDERS (9): Diego Abarca, Eric Calvillo, Louis “Chapa” Herrera, Nick Hinds, Denys Kostyshyn, Joel Maldonado, Liam Rose, Emmanuel Sonupé, Ricardo Zacarias.
FORWARDS (3): Chris Garcia, Aaron Gomez, Luis Solignac.