Atlanta United FC Already Undergoing Changes: Lose Almiron, Trade Garza

Only two days after Atlanta United FC won MLS Cup, the offseason is well underway. Two mainstays are already on the move as Miguel Almiron and Greg Garza will play elsewhere next season.

The confetti has barely settled from the championship parade and the team is already undergoing changes. On Tuesday, the day after the parade, MLS held its expansion draft. While no one from Atlanta United FC was selected in the expansion draft, the team did make a trade.

The Five Stripes traded defender Greg Garza to the expansion Cincinnati FC, in exchange for 450,000 in allocation money. Garza has been with Atlanta United FC, for both years of the team’s existence. The Club released this statement regarding the move on their website.

Almiron was an MLS All Star in 2017 playing in 26 matches. Unfortunately he sustained a shoulder injury in the MLS All Star Game and had trouble staying healthy after that. He did start ten matches in the regular season scoring one goal. He started in all five of Atlanta’s post season matches, playing a major role in the Cup victory.

Atlanta United FC announced the move and thanked Garza in this tweet:

Greg Garza was a good defender and a great teammate for Atlanta. He will immediately provide veteran leadership for Cincinnati.

The departure of Garza, is expected to result in more playing time for 16-year-old George Bellows, who scored his first MLS goal this year. Sydney Hunte of SB Nation has a good article on new expectations for Bellows.

The news has now come down that Atlanta United is losing one of their best players, midfielder Miguel Almiron. Almiron finished second in MLS MVP voting, behind teammate Josef Martinez.

Elijah Newsome of Coming Home Newcastle, via SB Nation, is reporting that a deal is done for Miguel Almiron to head to the European club Newcastle in this article.

Paraguayan journalist Bruno Pont announced via a tweet in Spanish, that Miguel Almiron has a deal in place to join powerhouse club Newcastle of England.

Less than two hours later Paraguayan multi-media member Roberto Rojas quoted the tweet saying that Almiron is definitely headed to Europe according to his father. However Newcastle is not the certain destination yet.

The tweet and quoted tweet can be seen below:

Simon Bird of United Kingdom based Mirror is reporting that the final battle for the services of Miguel Almiron is between New Castle and Arsenal, another English club based out of London.

Bird is saying that the transfer fee will be €30 million euros plus. Others have speculated it could be as high as €33 million euros. That would be just short of 37,525,000 in America dollars, a huge haul for Arthur Blank and his club.

A huge transfer fee would be money Atlanta United FC could invest back into the franchise. MLS is constricted by a salary cap, but certainly Mr. Blank would be willing to spend the maximum amount.

On the pitch, Miguel Almiron is an outstanding player. He is a two-time MLS All Star in both of his seasons with Atlanta United FC, his only two seasons in MLS. Miguel played in and started 32 games. He was second on the Five Stripes in goals scored with 12.

Miguel Almiron also tied Julian Gressel for first on the Atlanta club with 14 assists. Many soccer analysts around the world, believe that Almiron is in fact the best player on Atlanta United FC, rather than MLS MVP Josef Martinez. He will certainly be missed.

Though losing Miguel Almiron is a huge blow, the Five Stripes should be ok. They survived just fine this season when he went down with a hamstring injury. Ezequiel Barco is a strong in house candidate to replace Almiron.

Outside help may also be on the way. Midfielder Gonzalo “Pity” Martinez of Argentinian club River Plate is reportedly set to join the Five Stripes. Martinez is also a member of Argentina’s National soccer team. Joe Hojnacki of SBI soccer has the story of Gonzalo transferring to Atlanta.

So as you can see the offseason is already in full swing for Atlanta United FC. Things have been busy so far, and this is just the beginning. All of this, and we have yet to hear about a replacement for manager Tata Martino.

How do you think Atlanta United should replace Miguel Almiron, Greg Garza and Tata Martino?What moves would you like to see Atlanta United FC make in the offseason? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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