Are Atlanta Untied Back?

Atlanta United have had a strange year.

Over a four-month stretch last season, they sacked Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda, sacked Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra, and sold their two highest-profile players in Thiago Almada and Georgios Giakoumakis. 

It was scorched earth at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Atlanta’s Miracle Run

Going into the final day of the regular season, Atlanta sat in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, gazing desperately at the playoff line from the wrong side of the divide.

At this stage, no one would’ve faulted them for turning their sights to next season.

But before their 2025 rebuild could kick off, their 2024 season had one final twist.

Atlanta’s Decision Day victory over Orlando and DC United’s dismal defeat to Charlotte meant the Five Stripes snagged the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference on the final day.

In MLS’s recently expanded playoff format, that’s good enough for a ticket to the dance.

Once in the postseason, they brushed past CF Montreal in the Wild Card game on penalties, earning them one of the most lopsided matchups in MLS history: a bout with Inter Miami. 

They weren’t just the Supporter’s Shield champions, but the most successful regular-season side in MLS history, putting up a league-record 74 points that season.

Incredibly, after losing game one of the series, Atlanta surged back against Lionel Messi and his cast of stars, nipping games two and three, and pulling off an all-time MLS upset to advance.

ATL ultimately fell to Orlando City in the Eastern Conference Finals, ending their season one optimism-filled month later than anyone expected.

Offseason Refresh

It would’ve been easy for CEO and Owner, Garth Lagerway, to be swept up in the romance of the 2024 playoff run when looking to continue his rebuild.

Instead, he acted swiftly, continuing in the same ‘Extreme Home Makeover’ fashion he launched with his summer of sackings and sales.

Atlanta quickly parted ways with Interim Head Coach, Rob Valentino, replacing him with Ronny Deila, an MLS Cup winner with New York City FC back in 2021.

They also backfilled Bocanegra’s vacant Technical Director slot by snagging Chris Henderson from Inter Miami – the very team they just upset in the playoffs. 

He’s credited with overseeing the arrivals of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and Jordi Alba in South Beach, but also served as Seattle’s Technical Director for 12 seasons before that.

Once the front office was sorted, the attention turned to the signings. 

With two big-money Designated Players in Almada and Giakomakis sold last summer, this new management not only had two open DP slots to play with, but a $30m war chest at their disposal.

They were looking to spend this cash on compliments to last season’s DP signing, Aleksei Miranchuk.

The former Atalanta man is a proper string puller from the number 10 role, so perhaps unsurprisingly, Henderson and Deila went shopping for runners and goal-scorers with their new titanium credit card.

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Miguel Almirón’s Homecoming

The first major purchase from their shopping list was the one that will resonate with fans the most: Miguel Almirón.

Even six years on from joining Newcastle United, Almirón remains synonymous with Atlanta United.

He and strike partner Josef Martínez put Atlanta on the map back in 2017, hurling the club from an expansion side to an MLS Cup champion in just two seasons.

He returns from the Premier League at age 31 having won over the Toon Army just as he had Atlanta’s fans.

In doing so, he completes a unique circle of life in MLS that saw him serve as both the youth talent coming through the system, and as the aging superstar signing from Europe.

He’ll return as the face of the club, just as he left it. But there’s a level of expectation this time around for the Paraguayan international that he may not have felt in his first stint.

While he was beloved in Newcastle for his work rate, he wasn’t exactly a star player for them outside of a magical 2022/23 season.

But, that’s exactly what Atlanta are expecting him to be given the $10M fee they paid to get him back through the door. 

Perhaps that’s just what it costs for a CV with ‘Champions League‘ stamped proudly across it.

The Big One: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Thankfully, Almirón won’t be the only big signing looking to fire Atlanta back into an era of relevance. Incredibly, he might not even be Atlanta’s marquee signing this window.

Just a few days after announcing Almirón’s return, Atlanta United unveiled the signing of Emannuel Latte Lath from Middlesborough.

At $22M, he serves as the highest incoming transfer fee in MLS history.

The twice-capped Ivorian International brings game-breaking speed to Atlanta’s front line.

The striker bagged 27 goals in his last 18 months of play in the Championship, and at 26 years old, is expected to hit the ground running.

Latte Lath was rumored to have attracted Premier League interest before turning stateside, painting Atlanta’s global standing in a flattering light.

But, for that price tag, and with the high expectations Atlanta United’s enormous fanbase will rightfully bring, there is pressure on Latte Lath to be hit.

Atlanta Are Must-Watch Again

Atlanta also shrewdly brought in former Leeds man, Mateusz Klich, from DC United.

Impressively, Henderson was able to sign the talented midfielder on a standard first-team contract, rather than the DP salary he was earning in DC.

Between Miranchuk, Almirón, Latte Lath, and Klich, four DP-caliber players have joined this side in the last 6 months. They’ll be managed by a newly acquired head coach, who was hired by a recently appointed Technical Director.

It’s no longer ‘scorched earth’ at Mercedes Benz Stadium – it’s beautiful chaos.

Fans know this.

The flurry of signings combined with last season’s storybook run has sparked new optimism amongst their droves of supporters, suggesting the record-setting crowds we saw in Atlanta’s glory days could be back on full display next season.

If all the signings hit, they feel like contenders.

But even if they don’t quite get there, this version of Atlanta United has all the makings of a must-watch, box office side – just as they were when they entered the league.

Main Photo

Credit: IMAGO / Newscom World

Recording Date: 08.12.2018