Atlanta United will select five players in the MLS expansion draft, according to a story published Tuesday by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl.
Previous expansion drafts saw the new teams select as many as 10 players. Atlanta United and Minnesota will begin play in MLS in 2017. A coin flip held on Oct. 16 will decide which of the expansion clubs will receive the first pick in the expansion draft.
The expansion draft will take place Dec. 13. The draft will take place on Jan. 13 in Los Angeles.
The team that picks first in the expansion draft will pick second in the draft. The team that picks second in the expansion draft will get the top pick in the draft.
The 20 current MLS clubs can protect 11 players. The 11 players, in addition to Generation adidas players who do not graduate from the program at the end of the season and Homegrown Players on supplemental or reserve rosters, will not be eligible for selection in the expansion draft. All remaining league players will be available for selection.
Each MLS club may lose a maximum of one player in the expansion Draft. Once a player is selected, that club is may not lose any more players.
Atlanta United has already signed several players: goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, midfielders Chris McCann, Junior Burgos and Andrew Carleton, and forwards Jeffrey Otoo, Kenwyne Jones and Hector Villalba.
Finding usable players in the expansion draft can be tricky, as I detailed in this story.
Being limited to signing five players may be an advantage for Atlanta United, which now has a larger pool of players from which it can sign as it tries to fill the maximum of 28 slots on its roster. Slots 21-24 are considered supplemental, and 25-28 are considered reserves.
“We’re eager to continue building our roster for next season and the expansion draft is another opportunity for us,” Atlanta United president Darren Eales said in a statement provided by the team. “We will continue our scouting and preparation for all player acquisition mechanisms and ensure that we’ll be well prepared for this draft come December.”
