Atlanta United’s most important offseason in club history is here. With the club set to have two Designated Player slots, at least two U22 slots, and a massive amount of money at its disposal, all eyes are on Garth Lagerwey and his front office as several moves promise to reshape the roster.
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Atlanta United transfer news and rumors
February 4
Emmanuel Latte Lath is officially Atlanta United’s new No. 9, coming in on a 4-year deal with an option for a 5th. The reported $22M transfer (plus add-ons) is a new MLS record.
January 30
It’s a done deal: Miguel Almiron is officially back at Atlanta United.
January 15
A transfer bombshell from Tom Bogert and Ben Jacobs: Atlanta United and Newcastle United have ignited talks around a dramatic return of Miguel Almiron to the Five Stripes. According to Jacobs, Newcastle want $10.3M, with Charlotte FC previously keen to sign Almiron but pivoting their interest to Wilfried Zaha.
January 14
Per Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas, talks between Atlanta United and Middlesborough for striker Emmanuel Latte Lath have reached an advanced stage. However, Boro are hesitant to complete the deal without a Latte Lath replacement IDed.
Also, Atletico Nacional are keen to set up a loan deal for Edwin Mosquera with an option to buy, but according to Colombian journalist Mariano Olsen, Atlanta rejected the offer.
Finally, a move that benefits all MLS clubs as the league announced an internal transfer market. Scarves and Spikes’ Monday night MLS-focused show talked about it after Tom Bogert broke the initial news.
January 14
Another day and another striker rumor: Atlanta United are reportedly interested in Basaksehir striker and Polish international Krzysztof Piatek, who has been in tremendous form for his club this season. Basaksehir earlier in the week received a $10M+ transfer bid from an unnamed MLS team for Piatek, per Polish media.
January 11
The news Atlanta United fans have been waiting for: a connection to a possible DP No. 9. According to Tom Bogert, Middlesborough’s Emmanuel Latte Lath and Crystal Palace’s Odsonne Edouard (currently on loan at Leicester City) are the club’s current focus.
January 8
Atlanta United landed a Japanese forward…not the one some fans had hoped for. Cayman Togashi (a U.S. born player raised in Japan) signed for Atlanta on a free transfer.
December 23
Is Atlanta United in the hunt for another DP striker from Celtic? Reports from the Daily Mail state that striker Kyogo Furuhashi is a target for the upcoming transfer window.
December 19
Big trade for Atlanta United: the club reportedly will send its 23rd overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft and $325,000 in unconditional GAM to D.C. United for Polish international midfielder Mateusz Klich. Klich posted a 2g/13a statline for D.C. in 2024.
December 18
One for the future: Atlanta United 2 signed Academy defender Dom Chong Qui to a contract through 2025. He will become an Atlanta United Homegrown Player starting in 2026.
December 13
December 12
Brazillian journalist André Hernan reported that Benfica had rejected a €15M (US$15.7M) bid for striker Arthur Cabral. Cabral has 4 goals in 14 appearances across all competitions in 2024-25 and logged an 11g/3a statline in 43 games last season. Per Hernan, Benfica have put a price tag of €20M (US$20.97M) on the 26-year-old.
Also, Atlanta United announced that it had re-signed backup striker Jamal Thiare to a deal through 2025 with an option for 2026:
December 10
December 9
According to Tom Bogert, Atlanta United are trading forward Tyler Wolff to Real Salt Lake for $50k GAM. The Five Stripes declined the 21-year-old’s contract option a couple of weeks ago.
December 8
Manuel Veth reports that Atlanta United are interested in signing Nashville SC midfielder Dru Yearwood as a free agent. Yearwood, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Red Bulls in December 2023, is out of contract after the 2024 season.
December 6
Santiago Sosa‘s purchase option is picked up by Racing Club for a reported $4 million transfer fee, $2.5 million in add-ons, plus a 25 percent sell-on fee. Sosa had been on a season-long loan to Racing.
Also, according to reports from Bogota-based journalist Mariano Olsen, Edwin Mosquera is drawing loan interest from a trio of clubs in his native Colombia: Atlético Nacional, Junior, and Milionarios. That said, no formal offer has been made by either team, per Olsen.
November 26
Atlanta United announced its year-end roster moves. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan‘s option for 2025 was picked up, as was Efrain Morales, Jay Fortune, and Santiago Sosa. Erik Centeno, Nick Firmino, Ronald Hernandez, Franco Ibarra, Jamal Thiare, and Tyler Wolff had their options declined, but the club announced it remained in discussions with Hernandez, Thiare, and Wolff for a return.
Quentin Westberg also announced his retirement after two seasons with Atlanta, ending a professional career that started in 2006.
2024 MLS offseason calendar
- Dec. 9 – Half-Day Trade Window (9 a.m.-1 p.m ET)
- Dec. 11 – MLS Expansion Draft
- Dec. 12 – MLS Free Agency opens (1 p.m. ET)
- Dec. 12 – End of Year Waivers (5 p.m. ET)
- Dec. 13 – Re-Entry Process, Stage 1
- Dec. 19 – Re-Entry Process, Stage 2
- Dec. 20 – 2025 MLS SuperDraft
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[…] in the recesses of the Seattle Sounders’ basement and said “What if…?” So let’s quickly recap what Garth Lagerwey did with his […]
Boro fan here.
Latte Lath not in the Boro squad for tonight’s game against Sunderland.
According to the local radio commentator it’s due to the pending transfer to Atlanta
Marcus Forss takes his place as Striker, with Tommy Conway on the bench as he continues his return from a recent injury
Looks like you have your replacement for the remainder of the year – Kelechi Iheanacho
Tommy Conway was signed last Summer as Latte’s understudy / potential replacement and he’s already scored 8 goals in 19 appearances, so the assumption is he will be our first choice striker now (he’s just coming back from an injury but is on the bench tonight). They have slightly different skill sets but If anything he’s a more clinical finisher than Latte but not quite as physical, although he’s only 22 so still developing.
Iheanacho has been signed on loan for the rest of the season and the assumption here is that’s it’s to act as cover for Conway and Azaz.
I would be surprised if we signed Iheanacho permanently as our financial model is to sign younger players, improve / develop them and add value so that they sell for a profit . As per our sales of Chuba Akpom, Latte Lath, Morgan Rodgers, Djed Spence and Marcus Tavernier over the last few years.
Although our signing of Matthew Hoppe (USA international) didn’t work out, so we don’t get them all right.
At age 28 unless Sevilla are willing to sell Iheanacho for a low fee or release him on a free (unlikely) It would be a surprise if we signed him permanently in the summer.
well the Premier League transfer window has officially closed, so hopefully the Latte deal gets announced soon
Boro fan here
The English transfer window actually closes at 11pm (UK time) tonight (Feb 3rd). However the deadline only affects players signing for English clubs so all incoming deals must be completed today.
After tonights deadline English clubs can still sell players to leagues (eg. MLS) in other countries that still have an open transfer window.
All of the news / speculation / people ITK in our area are in agreement that LL has left and it’s only the USA immigration visa application formalities delaying an official announcement.
We are playing our local rivals Sunderland tonight (UK 8pm kickoff) live on ITV4 television and everybody is assuming that he won’t be part of the squad due to the transfer. The team lineup will be published at 7pm UK time.
well thats good to know
Dajax,
What are your thoughts of Carrick as manager? Positive?
Thanks
I personally like Michael Carrick but as expected for his first (if you don’t count his brief caretaker role at Manchester United) managerial role he is still developing / improving as a manager. The players all appear to respect / like him which is always a good thing.
Results have been a bit mixed this season but we are still on target to finish in a promotion play off position which is the target he was given for this season. If he fails in that objective then Steve Gibson (our owner) may decide to make a change in the summer (although I personally hope that won’t be the case)
Thank you for the response. I’m a fan of his from his ManU days (I remember his goal against Roma in the UCL that was a scorcher). Buddy of mine named his son Carrick due to his fandom of MC. Best Wishes for a successful run to the Premiership. I also follow Pompey and hope that stay up in the Championship for next year.
Posted 4 hours ago, Latte Lath is apparently coming, 18M pounds plus ad-ons
https://insidefutbol.com/2025/02/01/despite-rumours-suggesting-middlesbrough-stars-transfer-status-clarified/672796/
I expect an announcement tomorrow to confirm.
Here comes Miggy!
https://x.com/RaffaeleAmato14/status/1884695188011909410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1884695188011909410%7Ctwgr%5E944cf77cc7000b29e88f306aa06c19294529ec79%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffmttmboro.com%2Findex.php%3Fthreads%2Fll-deal-still-on.65823%2Fpage-5
I don’t know…27.8M would be a huge increase over the initial offer of 22M if both figures are based upon the same currency. Saw an article posted today that all but said the deal was dead.
It just seems unlikely we’d up the offer by almost 6M when we just made a serious offer for Cabral…unless Cabral and his team were completely uninterested, which made us desperate.
Also, this linked account doesn’t have much of a presence on X, not that it invalidates what he posted.
Grain of salt. I hope his injury is minor and we get him anyway; the transfer fee, whatever it is, doesn’t come out of my pocket. But for that much he needs to be a Super XI player.
Seems strange to me as well to be honest, especially as it was reported that Boro and Atlanta had agreed a fee earlier this month, but I can only send you what’s been posted on this side of the pond.
Possibly some journalistic license / exaggeration. Time will tell
It sounds like it’s a base transfer fee of $22m with the additional $6m(ish) in add-ons. I’d guess the club is happy to pay out on the back end if ELL is hitting the agreed benchmarks with AUFC.
Boro fan here.
Structuring a transfer in that way is becoming very common on this side of the pond.
Add-ons are generally a mixture of 1) very likely to achieve, and 2) Only achieved if the player does very well for his new club.
An example of type 1 would be an additional payment after a set number of games (eg 50), type 2 would be something along the lines of additional payments after scoring a set number of goals (eg 20+ in a season) or been named the Player of the year etc.
great
Boronfan here,
Word on this side of the pond is that your purchase of LL is as good as done, Raffaele Amato is an Italian sorts journalist with close links to LL’s agent.
“Raffaele Amato
@RaffaeleAmato14
·
Follow
EXCL – Agreement between Middlesbrough and Atlanta for the former Atalanta player Latte Lath: 27.8m. Agreement also between the striker (11 goals in the Championship) and Atlanta.
@calciomercatoit“
Looks like Miggy is getting a 4-year deal here, if this article is correct.
https://www.geordiebootboys.com/transfers/miguel-almirons-agent-explains-u-turn-as-newcastle-united-transfer-awaits-official-announcement/
Sky Sports was reporting it, too.
Boro fan here –
Alternative Striker suggestion for you if the Latte transfer falls through.
Boro accepted your offer so any delay / cancellation will be down to either a failure to agree a contract with LL or Green card/immigration issues.
There’s a young striker playing for Peterborough united in the EFL League 1 called Ricky Jade-Jones https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky-Jade_Jones
At first glance his stats look unimpressive, but he is playing for a struggling team so scoring chances are few and far between for him.
However his is only young and awesomely fast, still raw (Diamond in the rough) but improving all of the time and some of the biggest clubs in England and on the continent are monitoring / scouting his progress.
If Atlanta wanted to take a gamble on him you could potentially end up with a superb striker for a relative pittance.
Highlights of Ricky Jade-Jones are on YouTube if your interested.
Looks like he has played for Posh for a while. I think we are looking for someone who is a bit older.
Almost two weeks and nothing….
Miggy confirmed by multiple reporters now!
HURRAY!!! I might just buy the jersey!!!!
Come on, Lagerwey & Henderson, give me some good news!
[…] […]
The 23-24 kit was the best of them all, even though I have a 2019 kit. I prefer a darker jersey than a red jersey, so if this is the 23-24 version, just darker, i’m a buyer.
Did anyone get a screen capture of accidental MLS announcement for Kyogo? Also he had a brace at Ross County today so transfer is looking shaky.
I read all of the comments on their FB after each goal and fans were noting how Kyogo wasn’t celebrating like he normally does… could’ve just been cold lol
AUFC’s IG account hinting strongly toward a signing from Japan…
That’s probably Kyogo
I would be pleased by that, but some of the AUFC pundits are saying it’s not him. Any smoke out of the Celtic media on this? If it’s not Kyogo, I hope it’s Ritsu Doan. That’s pie in the sky thinking but maybe not as farfetched as it seems?
[…] […]
MLS actually made the GAM funds visible to fans:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6006455/2024/12/19/mls-general-allocation-salarycap/?source=user_shared_article
Nice, so we have more GAM than anyone.
There’s a rumor on Transfermarkt about Miggy returning to Atlanta.
https://www.transfermarkt.us/miguel-almiron-to-atlanta-united-fc-/thread/forum/613/thread_id/963
Hypothetical…what if this + Josef in free agency come true?
In terms of ability and career arc, give me Miggy over Josef. Especially if I can only have one of them.
I’ve noticed Miggy hasn’t been playing much lately though he seemed to be having success there in ’23.
Josef to San Jose makes me happy he’s still playing but sad he couldn’t come back and possibly retire here (I don’t feel like he has many more years). Miggy talks were more focused on Charlotte, which would suck, but those seem to have cooled too.
I spoke too soon…
Dear Atlantistas, how goes? No coach yet? Really?
I am happy to inform Gremio fired their coach, Renato Portaluppi, which makes me very happy. He won a Libertadores, in 2017, and little else. Aged poorly, and also became a right-wing nut, who needs that. No one knows who is coming to replace him, and the coach I wanted is doing super well with our nemesis, Inter.
Now, you may have heard that Botafogo (owned by your very own John Textor), led by your Thiago Almada, just won Copa Libertadores, and the Seria A, pocketing some 50 million USD in prize money. The interesting thing is that their coach is from Portugal, and the important detail is that this is the THIRD coach from Portugal to win a Copa Libertadores in the last four years leading a Brazilian team (Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Botafogo).
So, I wish your F.O. would consider Portugal while searching for a top class, world level coach to rebuild Atlanta.
In addition, I also saw your dear Santiago Sosa win the Sudamericana, with Racing. And playing quite well.
You can see that Almada, and Sosa were playing below their level. Atlanta needs a coach, and top level players.
Gremio sucked, but my home state was devastated by a flood in May, and this seriouly affected the team (and everyone else). Let´s hope 2025 is a better year, for all of us.
And, if I may, try watching some of our Serie A. The level has seriously improved, and the fact that there are 10-12 very good teams, makes it very entertaining. Plus, Brazilian teams are really South American selections these days, with la creme of la creme paying here.
Best luck, and let´s see what the year brings.
Wish you the best, like always.
[…] […]
Why are there no head coach rumors at this point? I cannot help but to worry that the silence has negative implications (Lagerways comments are starting to carry less and less weight). Could it be that Viera was the pick, but he grew tired of waiting? Was there another option that pulled out late? You would think some rumor would surface at this point if it was truly this close to happening.
I keep hearing Jim Curtain’s name thrown around, but i’m really not sure that’s happening. Other than a couple euro managers, I haven’t heard anything new lately. You have to think this is something that’s at the top of the priority list but is very under wraps.
I’m not sure how to feel about this one
Perhaps the one hopeful thing is that Valentino is gone. Not in the way that it’s good he’s gone per se, but that the way Lagerway is, I don’t think he’d drop a known quantity coach without having a strong likelihood of knowing he’s got a better option on the way.
Where did Pineda end up?
I’ve found a couple news articles saying he recently got hired as head coach of Atlas FC in Liga MX
The FO has taken the no communication approach to far. There are some rumors that work to your advantage, especially with keeping a now antsy fanbase engaged during the off season. A well planted rumor can keep excitement high. I for one love following transfer rumors, especially because it helps communicate the level of ambition.
Coaching rumors however communicate a strategy and direction. A lack of rumors creates the opposite affect (no matter how unfounded that thought is, it is just the way it is).
And then 2 solid player rumors quickly hit
All the free agency, end of season waivers, and re-entry draft posts are on MLS’s site if anyone is interested. One of the posts is still hinting at the possibility of Jim Curtain coming over as a coach…are we really in serious discussions with him?
The league releases the list of eligible expansion draft picks today, so sometime today we’ll know!