A new report by reliable soccer journalist César Luis Merlo suggests that Atlanta United’s Peruvian international centerback may be on the move to Brazil. While the report does not name the specific Brazilian clubs interested in Abram, the player seems interested in heading to one of the top leagues in the hemisphere.
There has been a lot of speculation on Abram’s future this off-season with some fans and pundits suggesting the club could go as far as using one of its buy-outs on him. Abram carries a substantial salary cap hit of just over $950,000 between his wages and amortized transfer fees. With Derrick Williams and Stian Gregersen firmly entrenched in the starting spots and young talent like Noah Cobb and Efrain Morales vying for opportunities, Abram’s cap hit, frequent international call-ups, and the need to make the most of each of the club’s international roster slots, Abram seems to be the odd man out.
Whether this will be an outright transfer to a Brazilian side or a loan for the final guaranteed year of Abram’s contract, this will provide valuable roster, salary, and international slot flexibility to Atlanta United as they overhaul the team ahead of the 2025 season.
Let us know in the comments below if you would like to see Abram sold to a Brazilian team, and who (if anyone) you would like to add to our centerback group ahead of the 2025 season.
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I have heard nothing of the sort. No club in Brasil seems to be negociating for this player, as far as I know.
I don’t have anything bad to say about Abram. A high salary for a backup guy though and with some of our other options (Cobb & Morales have been exceptional) I just don’t see why we would keep him.
Use some of that money for LB/RB backups/depth pieces.
If the salary cap wasn’t an issue, I would have no problem with Abram. He’s a good player who rightfully earns a lot of call-ups for Peru. But since we are so constrained in roster spots and how we use our money, and we still have to play during international windows, that makes the negatives weigh heavier than what he offers the team.
I am very excited about Cobb and Morales and I think Edwards could be in the mix this year at centerback, right-back, and left-back. Hernandez can also play on both flanks.
One interesting option that I had not considered is our ability to call Dom Chong Qui up several times this season while he is under contract with the 2s. That could be an option for the early rounds of the US Open Cup.
Also, right-back SuperDraft pick Ronan Wynne appears to be impressing at preseason camp based on how he is popping up all over training reports.
I don’t want to add any new cbs to the group, but I think it’d be a great roster spot for a new backup LB/LCB. Heck, I was thinking Abram could actually be our backup LB, albeit a very expensive one.
I agree that a LB/LCB option would be great. I think Matt Edwards is basically that since he can play both fullback spots and centerback. I’d like to add a veteran option there, though. Wear and tear will cause issues with availability as well as international call-ups for Stian, Morales, and maybe Cobb with the U-20s. It would be good to have one more guy who doesn’t cost much and doesn’t take up an international slot but can be a good veteran presence for Cobb, Morales, Edwards, and Kaidan Moore.
Please, please, please some club with more dollars than sense, take him off our hands. One of the worst contracts of the former FO.
The contract makes sense only if he is our starter at LCB but sitting behind Derrick Williams and not being able to win that starting job back has made it painful.
Add in the time he is away on international duty and the tactical focus on a 4-man backline rather than a 3-CB group, he doesn’t have a clear path back to a starting spot unless injuries happen. Even then, I’d rather see Cobb and Morales get those minutes.
Good call out re the international transfer window. I dont mind slightly overpaying for depth pieces at key positions, especially to help get through the many international windows that conflict with the MLS regular season.
To no fault of Abram, he just wasnt able to help out that way because of his commitments with Peru.
I think he’s underrated by our fans, but given the international conflicts and the growth of Cobb and Morales, its probably time to overpay for depth somewhere else.
Agreed, this is more a factor of how great Williams turned out. He was meant to be the 3rd string/veteran CB but definitely won his spot as a starter.
I can’t imagine there is a team in Brazil that will be willing to take Abram’s entire salary. It will probably be for a loan and Atlanta will probably have to cover some of the salary if we want him off the roster.
If they purchase him outright, they would negotiate a new contract with him with a new salary. They would only have to cover the entire salary he is currently being paid if it was a loan.
I think we would prefer to sell him outright rather than do the kind of loan-to-sell option we’ve used on so many players over the last few years.
I just can’t see a Brazilian team buying a player of Abram’s caliber been bought outright and will probably ask for a loan-to-buy scenario
Juventude and Corinthians are both really light at CB