After Matthew Edwards, Who Will Be Atlanta’s Next Homegrown Player?

After just barely halfway through his first professional season with Atlanta United 2, Matthew Edwards has earned a well-deserved Homegrown Player contract with Atlanta United.

This promotion represents a key moment for the academy that had already established clear visions for how young academy players could reach the first team through George Bello, Caleb Wiley, and Machop Chol. Bello represented a bit of a reset for the identification and development process. Wiley represented a young player starting at the U-12 level and working his way through the whole organization to MLS. Chol represented the new and longer pathway from the Academy to college and back to the club. Edwards represents a new form of talent development, retention, and promotion for Atlanta United that rewards players for excelling with Atlanta United 2 prior to earning their MLS promotion.

For the full story on how Edwards joined Atlanta United’s Academy, to his experience at the University of North Carolina, to his eventual return to his hometown club, check out Henry Higuita’s exclusive profile of the young defender and 2s captain. What Edwards has done is entirely new. Yes, Jackson Conway was promoted from a 2s contract to a Homegrown Player contract in 2021, but Edwards is the first to depart the club for college, return to an MLS NEXT PRO prove-it contract and earn a promotion following their first professional contract back with the club. Not only could this signal a new path for player development and retention, it could also serve as valuable motivation as a clear pathway for college players like Will Reilly, Nigel Prince, and Brendan Lambe to return to the club in the next couple of years.

So, that brings us to the central question of this series. Who will be the next Atlanta United Homegrown Player?

If we are basing this entirely on the timing of seasons, contracts, and key decisions between the club and players on expiring contracts, Alan Carleton would have to be the most obvious option at hand. With the departure of Jonantan Villal and Rocket Ritarita, Carleton becomes the longest-tenured academy player under contract with the 2s. His contract is set to expire at the end of the season and while it could certainly be extended, he and the club will likely prefer a clear direction forward. When he signed his first professional contract with the 2s in March of 2023, there was a lot to like about the young midfielder. Though he needed to add size and strength to stick as a central midfielder, he made up for it with some of the best technical ability and the best feet in the academy. At 19, he could still afford to add a bit of strength, but in the opportunities he has gotten like 35 minutes against a first-choice Charleston Battery side in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, Carleton has looked the part. With the league season concluding in November, Atlanta United should re-sign Carleton with the expectation that he will spend most of the 2025 season on loan with the 2s.

The next potential wave of talent would come with the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA Men’s College season and the arrival of the 2025 MLS Superdraft. Just like with Garrison Tubbs in 2024, Atlanta United will have the no-brainer opportunity to sign Will Reilly fresh off of his senior campaign with the Stanford Cardinals. Like Carleton, Reilly is a technically-sound midfielder who can play as a 6 or an 8. Prior to departing to Stanford, Reilly played multiple seasons for the 2s, dropping between centerbacks to quarterback the team from the holding midfield position while making deep delayed runs through the midfield in possession. He held his own against older, stronger, and larger grown men in the USL Championship, and took that experience to one of the top college soccer programs in the country where he quickly earned a starting spot.

Last season, Reilly moved to more of a box-to-box role and served as the primary corner kick taker on the team and saw his goal contributions explode. With impressive leaps forward in each of his college seasons, fans should eagerly anticipate his final college season. While his previous role may have put him in competition with Javier Armas for a roster spot, Reilly has added enough versatility in the midfield to become an excellent complimentary piece to any MLS roster. If given time in the preseason and with the 2s to get up to speed, Reilly could rejoin his old Atlanta United 2 midfield partner Ajani Fortune as an excellent rotational option behind Muyumba. The most important question, though, will be whether his return to Atlanta will last longer than Tubbs’ brief stint.

The other upperclassman college prospect who will be ready for a professional contract is Northwestern University’s defensive anchor, Nigel Prince. Price has always been an athletic monster at centerback with an impressive mix of height, mobility, and tools. The issue he had at the end of his time with the academy was his control. As a two-year starter for Northwestern, Prince has made himself into an impressive leader and more refined defender. Ahead of his junior season, Prince has joined USL League 2’s historic Long Island Rough Riders in preparation for what may be his audition for his first contract. For a defensive factory like Atlanta United, he will have to stand out as a special defensive talent who can compliment the young duo of Noah Cobb and Efrain Morales in centerback room with Stian Gregersen, Derrick Williams, and Luis Abram. If the front office chooses to offer Prince the same MLS NEXT Pro option that brought Edwards back to the team, that could buy Prince the same opportunity to lead young defensive prospects like Kaidan Moore, Braden Dunham, Ethan Degny and Dominic Chong Qui in 2025.

Speaking of Dominic Chong Qui, that 2s left-back position is looking open for the taking. Fans and scouts watching his game would be forgiven for comparing him to Caleb Wiley. Both are highly athletic and skilled left flanking players who could end up anywhere from the left wing to wingback to left-back depending on the system. The club has opted to play more of the academy prospects with their age groups to start the 2024 season rather than the former approach of advancing some prospects quickly. With Daniel Russo out for the season due to a knee injury and Edwards likely filling in as the back-up left-back when Caleb Wiley departs for the Olympics, the metaphorical door should be wide open for academy prospects like Chong Qui, Shawn Lanza, and Branden Dunham to step into that hole in the 2s roster. Once there, Chong Qui should be given every opportunity to win and keep a starting spot on that team. As interest grows overseas for Wiley, the club needs to prepare their talented young left-back prospects to be ready to claim the left-back spot at the Benz just as George Bello and Caleb Wiley did before them. If signed this winter, Dom Chong Qui’s contract could be structured similarly to how Ashton Gordon signed a 2s contract in 2024 with an automatic promotion to a Homegrown Player contract the following season.

Another player likely on the verge of his first professional contract is Atlanta United’s versatile 16-year-old midfielder, Cooper Sanchez. Fans may remember him as the young midfield substitute who seemed to take great pleasure in fouling people during Atlanta’s preseason win over Birmingham Legion. He can play every midfield position and has the kind of mixture of fearlessness and ruthlessness that fans have come to adore from Luke Brennan. He has above-average field awareness, passing, and an understanding for the flow of the game that surpasses what you would expect for a player his age. He has also been part of a competition between the United States and the Mexican Federation for his future services with the United States U-16 roster naming him as a late addition in May’s fixtures against Uruguay and Argentina as part of the path to the 2025 U-17 CONCACAF Championship and the 2025 U-17 World Cup in Qatar. He made his debut with the 2s in April of 2023 as the youngest debutant in team history and should be set to add to what has already been an impressive academy career in the back half of the 2024 2s season. If he signs his first contract this offseason, it will likely also be structured like Ashton Gordon’s deal, beginning with a year or two in MLS NEXT Pro before being promoted to Homegrown Player contract.

Some honorable mentions to add beyond the defenders we have already listed include the University of Virginia’s Brendan Lambe, U-17 Haitian Youth International Julian Bretous, U-15 breakout star Ignacio Suarez-Couri, and a bevy to top-tier goalkeeping prospects like James Donaldson and Jonathan Ransom.

Atlanta United’s prospect pipeline looks strong. With a growing contingent of Homegrown Players making a clear impact on the first team, competition will only get tougher as more top talent from the region vie for their spot in the Academy or on the 2s, all with the same goal of being the next Homegrown Player.

Which of these players do you think will be the next Atlanta United Homegrown Player?