Atlanta United President Darren Eales declined to say on Monday if the MLS expansion club is trying to sign U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
In a conference call previewing Tuesday's expansion draft , Eales said, "We won't talk about players under contract. What I will say is we are the top of the Allocation Ranking."
The Allocation Ranking is an MLS list that gives the team at the top of the list the first rights to try to sign U.S. men’s national team players, or former players, who may want to play in the league. The transfer window opens in January, which is the earliest that Atlanta United could sign Guzan.
Speculation increased that Atlanta United is trying to sign Guzan after the team traded Sean Johnson, an Atlanta native, on Sunday to New York City FC. Atlanta United has one goalkeeper on its roster, Alex Tambakis. He has never played in MLS.
“We were able to acquire Sean and move him along,” Atlanta United Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra said. “It’s all part of building the roster. These things happen through course of building a team.”
Guzan, 32, is the back-up goalkeeper at Middlesbrough in England’s Premier League. He began his career in MLS with Chivas before signing with Aston Villa in the EPL. He made 144 appearances before signing with Middlesbrough ahead of the 2016 season. He has been capped by the U.S. men’s national team more than 50 times.
While none of the Atlanta United executives would discuss Guzan, Bocanegra did discuss some of the trades the team made on Sunday for Kevin Kratz from Philadelphia, Michael Parkhurst from Columbus and Harrison Heath from Orlando.
Bocanegra said Parkhurst, a defender and also a player for U.S. men’s national team, is “a veteran leader at a crucial position on the team down the spine. He has national team experience, MLS experience, European expeirence. On top of that, he’s a great guy and good leader in locker room room. He also plays well out of the back ,which suits our style. He was a great piece for us to get in that trade.”
Kratz, a native of Germany who spent most of his career in Germany’s second division, also brings “some European experience. He’s a guy that can compete across the midfield. He likes to compete, runs well, mobile. Very versatile.”
Heath “gets in their and he plays hard. He’s versatile. He runs around, he kicks and he fights. That’s what we need for an expansion franchise.”
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