Crystal Palace pays Real Salt Lake $15 million for Zavier Gozo, the first Utah-born player to reach the Premier League

A 19-year-old winger born in Utah has just become the most expensive sale in Real Salt Lake's history. Not for what he cost, but for what he brought in: Crystal Palace paid a reported $15 million to sign Zavier Gozo, giving the MLS club the biggest sale on its books.

Gozo signed a five-year contract with the Eagles on Monday night. The player, a youth international with the United States, also becomes a name with history all his own: as Real Salt Lake confirmed in a statement, he is the first Utah-born player to join a Premier League club.

The American club isn't stepping away from the project entirely. In the same statement, the franchise noted it will retain a significant percentage of any future sale of Gozo, a common clause in this type of deal that lets the club keep benefiting if the winger keeps developing in England.

For Crystal Palace, the signing arrives at a busy moment. The Selhurst Park side are the reigning Conference League champions and open their Premier League season away at Everton this Saturday. But their European calendar looks different from last season: this time they'll play in the Europa League, the second tier of continental competition, after being bumped up a level as holders defending their title. The draw for UEFA's league phase takes place next week in Monaco, which will reveal who they face to kick off that campaign.

Another move with an international flavor: Promise David to Brighton

Crystal Palace wasn't the only Premier League club making moves with a World Cup connection. Brighton completed the loan of Canadian forward Promise David, 25, from Union Saint-Gilloise, with an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met.

David arrives with his name fresh off the World Cup: he played four matches for Canada, co-hosts of the tournament, and scored in a 2-1 group-stage loss to Switzerland.

The backstory behind the transfer has its own layers. Union Saint-Gilloise, runners-up in the Belgian league, were knocked out of Champions League qualifying by Bodø/Glimt last week and will play in the Europa League instead, a drop that will cost them tens of millions of euros in prize money compared to what they would have earned in Europe's top competition. Brighton and Union also share close ties through ownership and both use data analysis from Jamestown Analytics, the firm founded by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, which is also used by clubs like Como and Heart of Midlothian.

Brighton host Aston Villa, the reigning Europa League champions, in their Premier League opener on Sunday. This year, the south coast English club will play in the Conference League, Europe's third tier, and already has a fixture lined up: on Thursday they travel to Norway's Tromsø for the first leg of qualifying.