Zavier Gozo\u2019s route to the Premier League began with a simple ambition, one shaped by watching an older brother and playing youth football for nearby Real Salt Lake.<\/p>\n
What followed moved far more quickly than he expected. Gozo admitted the pace of his rise has been difficult to fully absorb, saying: \u201cI think it even happened a little bit too fast for me sometimes to even think about and appreciate,\u201d he adds frankly. \u201c … Life moves so fast. You play well for a couple of games, and you\u2019re an All-Star. It came faster than I thought and faster than a lot of people thought. It\u2019s been a great journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time he arrived at Real Salt Lake\u2019s facilities at 14, the first team had already become the target. His professional debut came in October 2023, when he was 16 and came off the bench in a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy.<\/p>\n
Gozo described the moment clearly: \u201cI didn\u2019t even know if I was traveling yet, then [manager] Pablo [Mastroeni] told me,\u201d Gozo says. \u201cI was just so nervous. I was like, \u2018There\u2019s no way I\u2019m getting into the game. Then when I was actually there, when they told us we were coming on, my mind went blank at that point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just taking it all in, looking at the fans and not really believing what was happening, and when I got out there, it was just business as usual. It was amazing. I\u2019ll always remember that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
His progress has since accelerated. Last season he became a regular on the flank, and this spring he produced six goals and five assists in 16 starts across the first half of the season. That form brought a place in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game and attracted Palace\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
The move was completed on Tuesday, with the Eagles agreeing a five-year deal and a reported $15 million fee for the young winger.<\/p>\n
Gozo said: \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to playing in the Premier League with Crystal Palace. It\u2019s the dream of any footballer,\u201d Gozo said in the club\u2019s news release on Tuesday evening. \u201cI\u2019m excited by the people and the project they have going on here. I\u2019ve seen a lot of it, and that\u2019s what excites me about this club as well, the success that they\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has long watched the competition he is now set to join. \u201cMe and my brother used to watch all the Premier League highlights every day, all day and with my dad,\u201d Gozo said on Palace\u2019s social media . \u201cIt\u2019s crazy to think I could be in those highlights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gozo also joins Chris Richards at the club, while his own USMNT pathway continues to develop. He has 27 youth appearances for U.S. Soccer, including the U-20 side that finished runner-up at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship and the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile.<\/p>\n
His senior debut could come in the September international window. Gozo said: \u201cJust missing out on the 2026 World Cup obviously made me realize how much I did want to play for the national team,\u201d Gozo tells Sports Illustrated. \u201cAnd I do still want to play for the national team. It\u2019s definitely in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThis World Cup definitely put a little fire under me to make the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, the timing remains his own, even if the climb has already been fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zavier Gozo has moved from Real Salt Lake to Crystal Palace after a swift rise through the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[465],"tags":[59,180,182],"class_list":["post-18618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crystal-palace","tag-featured","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}