Just ahead of the start of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season opener against Orlando City B, Atlanta United 2 announced its roster led by returning head coach Steve Cooke.
Last season, Cooke led a very young squad to a 9-13-6 record that saw more victories off of the field than on it. One of the highlights of the season was the emergence of Nick Firmino who set the single-season club record for goals at 16 with an additional 6 assists to earn himself a MLS NEXT Pro Best XI selection. Firmino’s success earned him a rare call-up to the first team in which he scored a game-winning goal in his brief cameo.
This offseason saw a significant shuffling of players from the 2s with long-term regulars like Jackson Conway, David Mejia, Jonny Villal, Vicente Reyes, and Justin Garces departing the club. The 2s also gained a new wave of young talent from the academy and college diaspora with the professional debut of Adyn Torres and the return of Matthew Edwards from the University of North Carolina. Ascendant homegrown forward Ashton Gordon will play his first professional season with the 2s in 2024 before being promoted to a Homegrown Player contract in 2025.
Returning to the 2s are MatÃas Gallardo, Alan Carleton and Karim Tmimi, as well as Erik Centeno, who will once again join the 2s on loan for the 2024 season. Centeno remains on a Generation Adidas contract and is still just 21 years old.
Free agent signings include veteran USL goalkeeper John Berner, fullback Daniel Russo, and MLS NEXT Pro midfielders Noble Okello and Jacob Williams. Russo joins the Notre Dame attacker-to-fullback pipeline Atlanta United created with Jon Gallagher that has also produced Aidan McFadden. He showed some expected growing pains in the preseason as he learns a new position but he should still be a valuable player going forward for the club. Williams brings a lot of speed and dynamic movement off of the wing, and Noble Okello brings commanding size and athleticism in the holding midfield position. Okello’s preseason was so impressive that he was specifically singled out by the coaching staff as an MVP of the preseason.
Other new faces include two of the club’s three 2024 MLS SuperDraft picks: former UConn goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert and Oregon State midfielder Javier Armas. Armas impressed a lot of people in the organization and in the fanbase this preseason and could see himself following Aidan McFadden and Nick Firmino to to the Benz early this season. Hibbert looks to be a strong option to become the goalkeeper of the future for Atlanta United with a guaranteed promotion to the first-team coming at the end of this season.
Atlanta United 2 also brought back versatile defender Matt Edwards to the club after three years with UNC. Edwards previously played for the 2s on an academy contract in the 2020 USL season after captaining the U-19 side.Â
| Player | Position | Designation | Contract |
| Javier Armas | DM | INTL | 2025 |
| John Berner | GK | 2024 | |
| Alan Carleton | CM | 2024 | |
| Matt Edwards | D/FB | 2024 | |
| Mathias Gallard | AM | INTL | 2024 |
| Ashton Gordon | F | HG as of 1/1/2024 | 2024 (First Team as of 1/1/2025) |
| Jayden Hibbert | GK | 2024 (First Team as of 1/1/2025) | |
| Noble Okello | M | 2024 | |
| Daniel Russo | FB | 2024 | |
| Karim Tmimi | F | 2024 | |
| Jacob Williams | W | 2025 |
Season-Long Loan
| Player | Position | Designation | Contract |
| Erik Centeno | W/FB | Generation Adidas | 2026 |
While the total listed roster is just 12 players, this is the strongest core of talent the 2s have had to work with in several seasons. This group will be augmented by a wave of talent from the U-17 and U-19 level with players as young as Ethan Degny and Cooper Sanchez expected to play a role this season. Reserves from the MLS team like Noah Cobb, Luke Brennan, Adyn Torres, Tyler Wolff, Aidan McFadden, and Nick Firmino could also gain valuable minutes to stay fresh for an MLS season that will require significant contributions on the field deep down the roster.
Atlanta United 2 single match tickets are available here. Fans can also listen to a radio-style broadcast by Jason Longshore for every match on Soccer Down Here.
ATL UTD 2 hosts Orlando City B in its season opener on March 16 at Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw, with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. ET (MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
So, why did all those guys leave? Not good enough?
A variety of reasons but at the heart of it is that they have a better path to regular minutes and growing their careers elsewhere. Some of these needed more opportunities at a higher level that they weren’t going to get from us. Others were about to be passed over for younger prospects or new college signings.
Reyes and Villal were sold to different teams that gave them a clear shot to play. Villal is getting regular Liga MX minutes right now. Reyes would have been a great player to keep but he was ready to go.
Conway and Mejia immediately signed with USL Championship teams and should be able to play a lot there. Conway is in a great place with Charleston Battery and Mejia can finally get a chance with the USL Miami team.
Garces lost a bit from his multiple injuries so what should have been a path to MLS fell through. He hasn’t found a new team yet as far as I can tell. Same thing happened to Tyler Young who looked great but got shafted by a season-ending injury.
The same is true for other guys who weren’t from our system. Kofi Twumasi got a great opportunity with the new Rhode Island team. Toni Tiente went to Birmingham where he will play a lot for a good team. Raimar went to Portugal. Sebastian Guerra went back to Colombia.
We passed on extending Chris Gloster since we still have Wiley and also have Dom Chong Qui in the system
Every year we lose a few guys from the 2s that we would have liked to have kept but at a certain point it isn’t good for the players to stagnate in a club that is hoarding them and it is bad for the next wave of kids who the club needs to develop if they are blocked by a player who hasn’t been given a consistent shot yet.