Well, that was quick.
Right on the heels of Matthew Edwards earning a much-deserved promotion from the 2s to the first team, Atlanta United’s versatile 16-year-old midfielder, Cooper Sanchez earned his stripes.
young midfield substitute in 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.
That versatility in the midfield was specifically cited by Atlanta United Director of Methodology Javier Perez in the team’s press release: “He has proven his versatility in the midfield and was a key piece in the U-16’s MLS NEXT Cup Championship win last year. Cooper’s signing further displays the strong development pathway through our club and we look forward to his continued growth on and off the pitch.”
His intriguing profile and athleticism have caught the attention of both the United States and the Mexican Federation who are in open competition for his future services. The United States U-16 roster named 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 is still very young and will likely benefit from a year and a half as a professional in MLS NEXT PRO before he is expected to contribute as a Homegrown Player. Luckily, this contract is designed to help him develop and succeed with the club through the 2028 season when he will be just 20 years old.
So, that brings us to the central question of this series. Who will be the next Atlanta United Homegrown Player?
Overall, the projections from the last one of these articles have not changed. 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 still makes sense. With the signing of Edwards and Sanchez, and the departure of Jonantan Villal and Rocket Ritarita, Carleton becomes the longest-tenured academy player under contract with the 2s and the most-ready prospect still with the club to earn a promotion.
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.
While Cooper Sanchez is developing with the 2s, Atlanta United could sign another midfielder from their college pool of prospects to fill out the midfield depth alongside Adyn Torres and Ajani Fortune in 2025 and 2026. That midfielder should be Will Reilly. Fresh off of his senior campaign with the Stanford Cardinals, Reilly could his slot in alongside his old Atlanta United 2 midfield partner Ajani Fortune as an reliable rotational option behind Muyumba.
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 the first couple of months with the 2s to get up to speed, Reilly could be an impact player off of the bench by the summer of 2025 and a fixture in the midfield by 2026.
The club could also choose to add more athleticism and defensive depth with Northwestern University’s 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. The club could also sign and trade Prince similarly to how they sent Garrison Tubbs to DC United this past winter.
Speaking of Dominic Chong Qui, that 2’s 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, Kaidan Moore, 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.
Some honorable mentions to add include the University of Virginia’s Brendan Lambe, 2s centerback Kaidan Moore, U-19 defenders Shawn Lanza and Branden Dunham, 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, and a looming sale of Caleb Wiley to Europe, the incentive has never been higher for the club and for its prospects to prove that they deserve to be the next Homegrown Player.
Which of these players do you think will be the next Atlanta United Homegrown Player?
Chong Qui could be the next possible homegrown, assuming Atlanta see that he is developed enough to start getting some regular minutes with the 2s
He certainly feels like a player who will get a 2s contract sooner rather than later. A lot of our U-17 group and young guys like Ethan Degny could also be in the mix. It was great to see Ransom and Donaldson as the 2s GK options in the last match even though it was a rough match for the team.