MAJOR League Soccer (MLS)outfit Real Salt Lake yesterday announced that it has signed ‘Golden Jaguars’ forward Emery Welshman as a new addition for the 2016 season, after the 24 year old played the 2015 season with United Soccer League club, Real Monarchs.Welshman is the first player to sign with Real Salt Lake from the Monarchs, as the club continues to evolve its player development system. Per league and club policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We view the Monarchs as an in-house development system and take great pride in announcing Emery as the first player to move through our system and into the first team,” Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel said.

He added “The environment that Coach Freddy Juarez and his staff have created challenges young players to mature and improve on a daily basis, with the end goal of having a shot at the first-team roster.”

Welshman was a stand-out with the Monarchs in 2015, scoring six goals in 19 appearances to finish second on the team.

He (Welshman) also added two assists in helping the Monarchs finish its inaugural season on a five-match winning streak to close out the season at 7-13-8, including a 6-3-5 record at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“Emery deserves a lot of credit, as he did everything asked of him over the past year. He matured and accepted the challenges given to him by the staff and in the end persevered to end the season on a very strong run,” Waibel said, adding: “We are extremely happy for Emery to be the first player to take advantage of his opportunities and look forward to his contributions with the first team in 2016.”

This is Welshman’s second shot at the MLS, having started his professional career as the 16th overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft to Toronto FC, despite making only one regular season appearance that season, and spent 2014 playing with Ligue 1 Ontario side Sigma FC in Canada’s third division.

In addition to his success with the Monarchs, Welshman also made his international debut in 2015, playing five matches and netting three goals for Guyana, including two goals in a World Cup Qualifying match against St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

Real Salt Lake starts the year in the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal Round, opening the schedule in Monterrey, Mexico, against Tigres UANL on Wednesday, February 24, with the return leg at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday, March 2.