Ezequiel Barco’s future with Atlanta United was made no clearer Wednesday by club President Darren Eales.
Eales declined to comment on reports that two Brazilian clubs, Flamengo and Internacional, made offers for the 22-year-old midfielder.
Barco wasn’t with the club Tuesday for its first training session. The club said that it is an excused absence. Eales declined to answer a question regarding when Barco is expected to report. The team’s first game is scheduled for Feb. 27 against Sporting KC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“The right time to speculate on that is if something happens,” Eales said. “But what I will say is Zeke has been a fantastic professional.”
Atlanta United purchased Barco from Independiente in Argentina for more than $13 million before the 2018 season. The signing was considered a coup for the club and MLS because Barco was thought to be one of the rising stars in South America.
Things haven’t worked out as well as expected.
The club did win the MLS Cup in 2018, Barco’s first season, but he didn’t play an impactful role in that. The club won two more trophies in 2019, the U.S. Open Cup and Campeones Cup, but Barco’s impact again wasn’t as much as expected.
In four seasons, Barco has made 81 appearances, with 17 goals and 17 assists. Last season was his best, with seven goals and eight assists.
The team needs to move Barco to bring in Thiago Almada, another Argentinian playmaker who Eales said the club has an option on.
Eales said the transfer market is depressed because of COVID-19.
“It hit hard for clubs the whole world over, and naturally there was a reticence to spend as much I think we’ve seen,” he said. “The market has gone down, and I think it will bounce back. It always does. I think we’re seeing the shoots of that now, but I think we’re still probably at least one more window to two windows away from getting back to the sort of levels that we were getting towards before COVID here.”
Erik Lopez, another player who is excused from training camp, was introduced by Banfield in Argentina earlier this week. Eales joked Wednesday that it’s pretty obvious where Lopez is going. He said the paperwork hasn’t been completed on the loan. Lopez, 20, scored one goal last year.
Loaning Lopez will open an Under-22 slot on Atlanta United’s roster that Eales said he expects the club will fill.
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Atlanta United’s 2022 MLS schedule
Feb. 27 vs. Sporting KC, 3 p.m., FS1
March 5 at Colorado, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
March 13 vs. Charlotte, 4:30 p.m., FS1
March 19 vs. Montreal, 4 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 2 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 9 at Charlotte, 3 p.m., ESPN
April 16 vs. Cincinnati, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 24 at Miami, 1 p.m., ESPN
April 30 at Montreal, 4 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 7 vs. Chicago, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 15 vs. New England, 2 p.m., ESPN
May 21 at Nashville, 7:30 p.m. FOX
May 28 vs. Columbus Crew, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 19 vs Miami, 4 p.m., ESPN2
June 25 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 30 at New York Red Bulls, 8 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 3 at NYCFC, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 9 vs. Austin, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 13 vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 17 vs. Orlando, 3 p.m., ABC
July 24 at L.A. Galaxy, 9:30 p.m., FS1
July 30 at Chicago, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
August 6 vs. Seattle, 3 p.m., ABC
August 13 at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. BSSO/BSSE
August 17 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
August 21 at Columbus, 6 p.m., FS1
August 28 vs. D.C. United, 4 p.m., UNIV
August 31 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4 at Portland, 5:30 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10 vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept. 14 at Orlando, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept 17 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 1 at New England, 1 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 9 vs. NYCFC, TBD, BSSO/BSSE
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