Now that Atlanta United has unveiled the jersey for its home games, secured a temporary home at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium until construction is finished on Mercedes-Benz Stadium and hired a manager in Gerardo Martino, what is next for the Major League Soccer expansion side?
Completing its roster, according to team president Darren Eales.
“The big thing for us is players,” he said.
Eales said he and technical director Carlos Bocanegra will be working “day and night” on the roster until the preseason is scheduled to start on Jan. 23.
Some of the mechanisms that Atlanta United will use include the half-day trade window, which opens and shuts on Dec. 11, the expansion draft, in which it has the first pick, on Dec. 13, free agency, which also starts on Dec. 13, the waiver draft (Dec. 15), re-entry draft (Dec. 16), and SuperDraft, which will be held Jan. 13 in Los Angeles. Atlanta United is scheduled to have the second pick in the SuperDraft. The first game will likely be in early March.
Atlanta United has announced the signings of, or agreed to trade for, nine players. That group includes goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, midfielders Junior Burgos, Chris McCann, Andrew Carleton, Hector Villalba and Kevin Kratz (a pending trade with Philadelphia), and forwards Kenwyne Jones, Jeffrey Otoo and Chris Gosling. Carleton and Gosling were signed as Homegrown Players from the team’s academy.
The team has two Designated Player slots remaining, which are reserved for the higher-profile, higher-paid players. Villalba, who like Martino is a native of Argentina, was the first Designated Player signed by the team.
There are 20 roster slots remaining to be filled.
Martino has never coached in MLS or in the United States. He and his staff, recently announced by the team, have spent a lot of time watching videos of players and learning the complex league rules for acquiring players, according to club technical director Carlos Bocanegra.
Aided by a translator, Martino said he and his staff feel really confident about the scouting and research they have done on potential players.
“He’ll ask questions, ‘Can we do this? Can we do that?’ ” Bocanegra said. “For us it’s been great to have them here and have him here in town.
“We talk about a lot of players but now it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s go get some guys.’ ”
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