Atlanta United 2 announced the signing of United States Youth International Rodrigo Neri through the 2025 season.
Born in Miami, the 19-year-old center forward developed at Alcorón before moving to the upper levels of the Atletico Madrid academy. In his first year with Atletico’s U-17s, Neri scored 20 goals and added 11 assists. As he progressed through Atletico’s academy, he caught the eye of the US Soccer Federation who called him up as a 17-year-old center forward playing up an age group with the United States U-20s against England and Norway in 2022. He scored in both, including a brace against Norway.
In the Spring of 2023, Neri continued his rise by scoring for the US U-19s against Argentina’s U-17s.
Neri also represented the US at the U-23 level last fall as part of our Pan-American Games that finished 4th, the best finish for an American team since a bronze finish in 1999.
In search of opportunities for regular minutes at the professional level, Neri departed Atletico Madrid’s academy over the winter for Valencia’s U-19s. He was called up again by the U-19s/U-20s in March for friendlies against England and Morocco in Morocco and stands a good chance of being selected for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship set to kick off in Mexico’s Celaya and Irapuato on July 19th.
So far, Neri has played as a traditional center forward. As he moves up in age groups, he no longer has the benefit of a larger physical frame at this position standing somewhere between 5’11” and 6’1″. After rising quickly as a high-profile multi-national youth prospect, he is still searching for regular first-team minutes. He has above-average athleticism and technique, with a history of scoring a lot of goals so Atlanta United are likely hoping that they can help him jumpstart a promising professional career.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rodrigo to the club and are eager to watch his development and impact on the squad during this next year and a half,” said Director of Methodology Javier Perez. “Rodrigo has great potential and a wealth of experience through his time in Spain and with the United States Youth teams that will help lift our Second Team and the players around him.”
Neri joins a 2s roster in need of reinforcements. Currently sitting in last place in MLS NEXT Pro’s Eastern Conference with about a half of a season remaining, the thin 2s roster need an injection of energy and inspiration. Neri will join Ashton Gordon and Karim Tmimi as the team’s options at center forward, giving coach Steve Cooke more attacking options off of the bench and potentially allowing Gordon more opportunities to play on the wing.
For Neri, Atlanta United 2 represents a fresh start, a chance to show what he can do at a club with a growing emphasis on developing young in-house talent, and the intriguing opportunity to play professionally in the same city as the new United States training facilities as the US Soccer Federation prepares for a potential return to the U-20 World Cup in 2025 ahead of hosting the 2026 World Cup.
This signing feels like a great signing for all parties, as a low-cost and high-reward opportunity for a highly-regarded prospect to earn his stripes.
Welcome to Atlanta, Rodrigo Neri!
Looks like an exciting talent who could make an impact for the first team in a couple years!
I expect him to be traded for 19.99 GAM or a 13th pick 2nd round of the 2143 Superdraft.
[…] Atlanta United 2 signs U.S. youth international Rodrigo Neri […]
With the success he’s had at national team levels (junior squads, yes), I wonder why he hasn’t gotten more opportunity to play at a higher level professionally. Did he have a large physical advantage as a U-17 that helped him get so many goals and assists, and others have caught up to him physically?
Still a good low-risk signing that may one day be a useful player at the MLS level.
I’ve gathered that Athletico Madrid has a massive academy with A and B teams for each age group so competition is stiff just to advance through the academy, let alone make the jump to the main squad. They also have a reserve team. Before he left over the winter, he was actively training with the first team as an academy player. There was a lot of speculation from fans and journalists that he was about to get his shot. Still, for some reason, he and his manager/agent/whomever didn’t believe he had the opportunity he needed to get regular first-team minutes there so they moved to Valencia and that seems to have not been a good fit either.
He did reach approximately his current height at an earlier age so that may have somewhat contributed to it, but I don’t think that is the entire story. He seems to be thought well of by the US coaches who continue to bring him back so it will be interesting to see what our coaches and developmental staff can do for him over the next year and a half.
This looks like a trial for both the player and the club to see whether this is a good fit for him. He’s not as tall as Brandon Vazquez but has found a similar path to Atlanta as a player who emerged with the US as a U-17 and a U-19/U-20 but didn’t seem to have as bright of a future with Tijuana. Vazquez backed up Josef and was forced to play out of position at the wing, and didn’t have the option of regularly starting for the 2s in 2016 so this could be our attempt to develop Neri into a primary back-up or lead CF option by 2026 with the MLS side on his second contract with the club.
Cool, thanks for the added info and perspective. Much appreciated.
I hope so. Generally US academies have not been able to develop true attackers
For those who are concerned about Neri blocking academy players, Ashton Gordon and Amir Henry are the only two CF prospects high enough in the system to need those minutes so soon-to-be 28-year-old Karim Tmimi was getting tons of playing time. We have a lot of exciting wing, midfield, defensive, and goalkeeper prospects but are thin at CF.
this could be a sneaky good add. maybe build up enough to be a primary striker for the main team in a year or two.
Exactly. I hope this is a shift in 2s roster-building strategy where we have a mix of academy players and graduates, US youth dual nationals looking to break through after being blocked by their European or South American parent club, and top college/USL prospects.
It should make the 2s more competitive if they do that. I get that its primary purpose is probably player development, but I also think there’s something to the idea that losing all the time can stunt development as well, especially mentally. Working really hard and still losing all the time can wear almost anyone down eventually.
I agree with that. In a perfect world, I think they want to be competitive, but that doesn’t always go hand in hand with the development of individual players. This is a really thin squad without much opportunity for rotation or for players to stick in their main roles because they have to fill other spots that are vacant due to injury, call-up, or other factors.
If we start signing more of our former and current academy players along with some of the better prospects from academies and lower division sides in our region, we will be more competitive.