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Highly regarded assistant coach Robin Fraser is expected to leave Real Salt Lake after nearly four years to become the head coach of Chivas USA, near Los Angeles.

The 44-year-old Fraser will become a head coach for the first time, according to multiple sources and an ESPN Deportes report, after helping Jason Kreis build RSL into one of the top teams in Major League Soccer. Fraser was one of the best defenders in league history as a player, and was widely considered one of the top assistants in the league after helping develop RSL's Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers.

Fraser could not be reached for comment, and team officials were cautious about their public remarks Monday, with Chivas USA not having announced anything yet.

"Were something to materialize, we would be supportive of Robin leaving because he's been great for us," general manager Garth Lagerwey said.

Fraser was among three finalists for the Chivas job, after the team fired Martin Vasquez after just one season as part of a management overhaul. The Goats finished 8-14-4 last season, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since their inaugural 2005 season.

But Chivas first pursued Juan Carlos Osorio, the former New York and Chicago coach. Osorio turned them down to remain head coach of Once Caldas in Colombia, however, leading the Goats to pursue Fraser — previously a candidate for head jobs at D.C. United and Chicago — over fellow finalist Denis Hamlett, another former Chicago coach.

Fraser is expected to hire RSL's Greg Vanney as an assistant at Chivas USA, sources said. Vanney was teammates with Fraser on the Los Angeles Galaxy, and now is the director of the RSL-Arizona youth academy program.

The news comes just nine days before the MLS SuperDraft, amid preparations for the earliest start to a season in team history with the CONCACAF Champions League next month. Team officials saw the move coming, though, with Fraser having interviewed with the Goats several weeks ago.