The MLS transfer window will close at the end of the day Wednesday.
Atlanta United has somewhere around $40 million to spend after spending $13 million to add Alexey Miranchuk.
Why isn’t it spending Arthur Blank’s money? Why isn’t it throwing money at any top-name striker in hopes of luring them to Atlanta?
Let’s dive into that.
First, spending lavish sums of money to acquire players isn’t how President Garth Lagerwey has run past clubs nor how he wants to run Atlanta United. Lagerwey is prudent. He is data-focused. While dollars have numbers on them, numbers can prove you don’t have to spend dollars.
Go back to Lagerwey’s introductory press conference when he was hired in November 2022 and said this: “... we’re trying to maximize our resources because if you maximize your resources in a salary-cap system, that’s going to get you more good players. If you have more good players, you’re probably going to win more games.”
The biggest spend Lagerwey at Seattle, his previous club, was $7.5 million for striker Raul Ruidiaz.
Transfer prices typically are high in windows following international tournaments, such as the Olympics, Copa America and the Euros. There is no sense in overspending right now.
The biggest offer Atlanta United reportedly made in this window was $16.5 million for Ajax 26-year-old striker Steven Bergwijn. It was rejected.
It reportedly has made an offer for 29-year-old Uzbeki striker Eldor Shomurodov, who plays for Roma. No fee has been reported, but his age, combined with his lack of production in Italy (15 goals in 102 appearances for four clubs) likely means a Targeted Allocation Money-Designated Player deal is Atlanta United’s goal. That kind of deal would allow the team to buy him down and open a DP slot.
That roster flexibility, combined with smart and fiscal spending, is Lagerwey’s goal. Atlanta United has one DP slot open that previously was occupied by Giorgos Giakoumakis, who was sold to Cruz Azul for $10 million. Miranchuk will fill the slot previously occupied by Thiago Almada, who was sold to Botafogo for a base of $21 million. Centerback Stain Gregersen occupies the third slot. That slot will move to midfielder Bartosz Slisz next season. However, with the $11 million the team received from the sale of Homegrown signee Caleb Wiley to Chelsea, it can use some of that revenue to buy down Slisz’s contract to open a DP slot for next season. That is a key part of Lagerwey’s plan.
If the team can sign Shomurodov on a TAM/DP deal, it will get a solid striker and the ability to go into the winter window with two DP slots open and more than $40 million to spend on a bell-cow striker should Shomorudov not prove to be it, and a dynamic left wing.
It’s tough for most Atlanta United supporters to hear wait until the next window. It’s particularly tough when the team recently raised season-ticket prices for next season. It’s extremely tough when the team’s results are average, to be kind, this season.
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