After being released by Real Salt Lake in July, midfielder David Viana signed with Conference National side Luton Town on Monday. He is under contract until the end of the season after going on trial with Luton in September.
“David’s an exciting player and one that can find a pass in the final third of the pitch,” Luton Town manager John Still said in a club release. “He also has a silkiness about him. In the games in which he’s played he has always looked like he has a goal in him. ... The international clearance took some time to go through, which was frustrating, but David has remained patient, which is all credit to him.”
In an update on team news ahead of Luton’s match on Saturday against Halifax Town, Still said he would not rush Viana into the lineup, making it seem as though he would not play a part in the game.
The 21-year-old midfielder played for multiple Portuguese youth national teams and RC Strasbourg’s youth team in France. He moved to Atlético Madrid, which is where Real Salt Lake found him. Viana only played twice for RSL, both in October 2012, coming on as a substitute at Seattle Sounders FC and against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Luton is in sixth place in Conference National, with 20 points after 12 games. The first-placed team at the end of the season receives automatic promotion to League Two, while the next four teams advance to a playoff to determine the other two promoted sides. In 2012-13, Luton finished outside the playoff places, in seventh, 13 points below fifth place.