Atlanta United sign Santiago Pita to homegrown deal

Atlanta United announced on Wednesday that it’s signed young Santiago Pita to a homegrown deal, effective January 2026. The deal helps lock in the 18 year old attacker, who began featuring heavily for Atlanta United 2 in the second half of the season as interim head coach Jose Silva took over for the outgoing Steve Cooke. Unsurprisingly, his work rate, calm demeanor, and shiftiness on the ball helped secure his spot as the 2’s played some of their best soccer in years, missing out on making the playoffs by the narrowest of margins against Chattanooga FC on the final day of the season. In fact, he scored the opening goal in that match, which ultimately went to penalties.

With such a strong highlight reel over the past year coupled with the need for another dynamic attacker to grow with the club, it’s no surprise Chris Henderson and Tata Martino made the decision to keep Santiago Pita around in an expanded capacity. His particular role under Silva consisted of him playing as a hybrid attacking midfielder/left winger, with freedom to operate around Gabriel Wesseh and behind target man Patrick Weah. Prior to his time with the 2’s, he spent much of the 2025 year with the Atlanta United Academy while also receiving caps with the United States U-18s, scoring the opener against Australia in a 3-2 win in June.

Congratulations to Santiago Pita!