If Saba Lobjanidze receives his P-1 visa, the winger will be considered for Sunday’s roster against Seattle, Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda said Friday.
“I’m just waiting for news, actually,” Pineda said.
Lobjanidze signed as a Designated Player in the days before the transfer window closed Aug. 2.
Jamal Thiare, a striker, likely won’t join the team until next week. His visa is taking longer to obtain. Pineda said it’s easier to obtain visas for players from Europe. Lobjanidze is from the nation of Georgia. Thiare is from Senegal.
The two players have been training on their own. Lobjanidze should be fit when he arrives because he went through part of the preseason with his previous club, Hatayspor.
Two other players acquired during the window, Tristan Muyumba and Xande Silva, will be available for the match.
Muyumba started in Atlanta United’s loss to Cruz Azul in Leagues Cup. Pineda said Muyumba is doing very well and keeping the team organized and knowing where to go when teammates press or get forward into the attack.
Fullback Brooks Lennon said Muyumba gets the ball off his feet very quickly and knows the right spaces to be in.
“Even though he’s integrating in the system, integrated into his teammates, he’s being very vocal in different ways,” Pineda said. “He’s showing a lot of leadership that I think is going to grow with time. And we’re very, actually very happy and pleased on that side from Tristan.”
Pineda wouldn’t commit to Silva starting. He said the team still is assessing the Portuguese player’s fitness. He said Silva would be examined again after Saturday’s training and then a decision would come as whether he would be more effective as a starter or by coming off the bench.
Silva played well in last week’s closed-door scrimmage against St. Louis. He played 30 minutes and had two assists.
“He was really bright, very big threat,” fullback Caleb Wiley said.
Pineda is getting the depth that he hoped for when he joined the club from Seattle in the summer of 2021.
“We have way more options,” he said. “We have many players that probably want to start these games that they could perfectly be starting and doing a good job there. So you have many of those, and then you start to have competition and then you start to raise the level and raise the level, and then you start to have also players that can really, really impact when they are on the field in the last 20-30 minutes of the game.”
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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule
Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1
March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1
March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0
March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1
March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1
April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0
April 8 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1
April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2
April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1
April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1
May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1
May 13 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 1
May 17 Atlanta United 4, Colorado 0
May 20 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 3
May 27 Atlanta United 1, Orlando 1
May 31 Atlanta United 3, New England 3
June 7 Atlanta United 0, LAFC 0
June 10 Atlanta United 3, D.C. United 1
June 21 Atlanta United 2, New York City 2
June 24 New York Red Bulls 4, Atlanta United 0
July 2 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 0
July 8 Atlanta United 1, Montreal 0
July 12 New England 2, Atlanta United 1
July 15 Orlando City 2, Atlanta United 1
July 25 Miami 4, Atlanta United 0 in Leagues Cup
July 29 Cruz Azul 1 (5), Atlanta United (4) 1 in Leagues Cup
Aug. 20 at Seattle Sounders, 10:30 p.m.
Aug. 26 vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2 at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 vs. Inter Miami CF, 5 p.m.
Sept. 20 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 23 vs. CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 at Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 7 vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 at FC Cincinnati, TBA
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