Refuting numerous reports out of Chile, and sending fans of Colo-Colo into an uproar on social media, Atlanta United Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra said on Monday that Carlos Carmona remains under contract and is expected to be with the MLS team for the season.
Carmona, a native of Chile, has been a target for Colo-Colo, also based in Chile, for the past few weeks.
“You hear rumors all the time but Carlos is here, he’s under contract with us, he’s our player,” Bocanegra said. “He’s not going anywhere.”
Reports out of the South American country had Carmona flying to Atlanta to meet with officials to terminate his contract so that he could join Colo-Colo.
Instead on Monday, Carmona was at Atlanta United’s facility for the opening of training camp.
Carmona, 30, made 31 appearances and 30 starts for Atlanta United last season. He joined the team on a free transfer after spending the previous eight seasons in Italy.
Conversing through twitter, a reporter in Chile said that Carmona was being offered a $40,000-per-month contract by Colo-Colo. He had a guaranteed salary of $725,000 with Atlanta United last season.
Several reports said that Carmona wants to return to Chile to raise his family. Carmona isn’t scheduled to meet with the Atlanta-based media until Thursday.
Atlanta United has several defensive midfielders on its roster. In addition to Carmona, the team re-signed Jeff Larentowicz and traded for Darlington Nagbe, who can play defensive midfielder but is more of an attacking midfielder. It also has Homegrown Player Chris Goslin, and selected Oliver Shannon from Clemson in last week’s SuperDraft.
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