Saba Lobjanidze needed 12 minutes to show Real Salt Lake what he could do.

The 31-year-old Georgian winger, acquired from Atlanta United on July 1, entered his RSL debut against LAFC on Wednesday, July 22, in the 78th minute and promptly delivered a corner kick that Lukas Engel finished in the 86th minute for the consolation goal in a 3-1 road loss at BMO Stadium. It was Engel's first professional goal since March 2024. Lobjanidze took one shot and served five of RSL's 11 corners in that brief cameo.

"It was by far his best performance, and I think for him, it was just about getting the cobwebs out and understanding the position," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said after the LAFC match. "He did so many great things tonight, and was a real bright spot in the changes that we made."

The assist made Lobjanidze the eighth player in RSL history to record an assist in his debut, according to RSL.

Three days later, Lobjanidze came off the bench again in the 75th minute at Portland on Saturday, July 25, replacing Diego Luna in a 2-1 loss at Providence Park. Juan Manuel Sanabria scored RSL's lone goal in the 18th minute, but Felipe Mora's second-half brace and a 31st-minute red card to Morgan Guilavogui sank the visitors.

RSL paid Atlanta $625,000 in General Allocation Money for Lobjanidze, with up to an additional $100,000 in GAM if he re-signs, according to MLSSoccer.com. Atlanta retained a portion of his salary budget charge, and RSL also received Atlanta's third-round pick in the 2028 MLS SuperDraft. The club described the deal as acquiring a veteran at a "significantly reduced budget charge."

Lobjanidze brings 15 goals and 21 assists across 93 MLS appearances in 3½ seasons with Atlanta, where he arrived in August 2023 from Turkish Süper Lig side Hatayspor. He has four goals in 43 caps for the Georgian national team.

RSL chief soccer officer and sporting director Kurt Schmid said in the July 1 trade announcement that the move would "provide depth at multiple positions and competition in training each day," adding that Lobjanidze's nearly 100 MLS games should help him adjust quickly.

RSL sits fourth in the Western Conference at 8-6-2 (26 points) but has not won on the road since March 7 in Atlanta. The club travels to St. Louis on Saturday, August 1, before returning to Sandy for the Leagues Cup home opener against Tigres UANL on Tuesday, August 4, at 8 p.m. MT at America First Field. RSL then hosts Atlante CF on Saturday, August 8, and FC Juárez on Tuesday, August 11.