Atlanta United shopping in South America again with Tuesday signing

Atlanta United has reopened its pipeline to Argentina with the acquisition Tuesday of another player, Tomas Jacob.

Jacob, who can play any of several positions, joins goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos, also a native of Argentina, as Atlanta United’s first two signings for rehired manager Gerardo Martino, who is from, you guessed it, the Land of Silver.

“He’s going to add competition to the backline and is well suited for Tata’s style of play,” Atlanta United Sporting Director Chris Henderson said in a statement from the club.

During Martino’s first stint leading Atlanta United in 2017 and ‘18, Atlanta United signed numerous players from South America, including Hector Villalba, Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron, Carlos Carmona, Yamil Asad and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez.

Martino resigned after the team won the 2018 MLS Cup, and the franchise’s philosophy switched mostly to scouting and signing veterans from Europe to try to fill needs. There were a few exceptions, notably past Under-22 Initiative signings Erik Lopez, Santiago Sosa, Franco Ibarra and Edwin Mosquera. Only Mosquera remains, and he spent the past half-season on a loan that will continue into the pending season.

The signings of Hoyos and Jacob doesn’t mean Atlanta United is focusing exclusively on South American players, but it is a return to a talent pool it had been not delving into as deeply as it once had.

Jacob, 21, is a U-22 signing. The transfer fee paid for U-22 signings doesn’t count against a team’s salary budget and the player’s cap charge doesn’t exceed $200,000.