Atlanta United reportedly agreed to terms on the signing of Thiago Almada for $16 million, according to a tweet produced by his former club, Velez Sarsfield.
Atlanta United wouldn’t confirm the signing but did confirm that it owns the player’s global rights.
“We have seen reports that we have finalized a deal to acquire Thiago Almada,” Atlanta United said in a statement Friday night. “We have not committed to acquiring the player at this time; however we can confirm that we retain an exclusive option to permanently transfer the player. The option extends into 2022. We will have no further comment on the player at this time.”
According to the tweet, Almada will join the club in February.
Almada is a 20-year-old attacking midfielder who recently was called into Argentina’s national-team camp. He has 24 goals and 11 assists in 98 appearances for Velez.
How Atlanta United has signed Almada is unknown.
MLS teams are allowed a maximum of three Designated Players. Those are players whose transfer fees, salaries, agents fee and other costs of acquisition, when amortized over the length of the contract, exceeds $1,612,500 in the 2021 season.
Atlanta United has three Designated Players: Josef Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and Luiz Araujo. MLS teams can buy down the status of a DP by using Allocation Money as long as the annual costs don’t exceed the $1.6 million. Atlanta United hasn’t said if any of its DPs can be bought down, but it seems unlikely based upon their transfer fees and salaries.
At least four times in the past the team has signed more DPs than it has had slots but it always became roster compliant to adhere to MLS rules. It won’t need to be roster compliant for next season until likely a day before the first game.
Atlanta United could sell one of the DPs to open a slot. Barco, who has said that he wants to continue his career in Europe, likely would be the candidate. Vice President Carlos Bocanegra on Wednesday said that several clubs have expressed an interest in Barco.
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