RSL planning to ship Eskandarian to Chivas

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Posted: 4:48 PM- He arrived in a trade for the league's leading scorer, but now Real Salt Lake's Alecko Eskandarian appears to be on his way out.

Eskandarian is expected to be traded to Chivas USA in exchange for a "major allocation" of $125,000 in salary cap space, sources said Tuesday - barely seven months after RSL traded striker Jeff Cunningham to acquire him. The deal is awaiting approval from Major League Soccer before it can be announced, and RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey declined comment.

A former No. 1 draft pick who was once a dangerous scorer, Eskandarian managed just one goal and three assists in 17 games for RSL last season. He became increasingly expendable as RSL renovated its roster by acquiring talented young strikers Robbie Findley, Fabian Espindola and Yura Movsisyan - especially because Eskandarian earned $175,500 last season.

Eskandarian had been on trial with Standard Liege in Belgium last month after his contract expired, but wound up signing a new deal with the league. He had joined RSL last May in a trade with Toronto FC for Cunningham, who led the league with 16 goals the previous season.

If the trade goes through, it will be the second in three weeks that RSL has made with Chivas USA. The team dealt midfielder Atiba Harris to the Goats last month in exchange for a third-round draft pick in next week's MLS Super Draft, in which RSL owns four of the top 37 picks.