We’re over a month out from the season beginning and, barring a late move for Thiago Almada, this may be the last time we talk about Atlanta United for a while. I can’t think of another team that’s come into the offseason and been as efficient and effective as the Five Stripes. They had a relatively lengthy checklist heading into the winter window and they’ve seemingly wrapped up all their loose ends in record time with zero drama.
The rumors and reports came about who they were targeting and then, a few days later, those players showed up in Atlanta with long-term deals. There’s one more depth move to make, but we’ll go ahead and give full marks to technical director/vice president Carlos Bocanegra and president/CEO Garth Lagerwey for a wholly painless experience.
They put a nice bow on that experience yesterday when they announced the signing of 24-year-old defensive midfielder Bartosz Slisz from Legia Warsaw. As always, we have no real idea how players will translate to MLS, but Slisz’s numbers and Legia Warsaw fans’ reaction to losing him seem to indicate he’s a player ready to make a serious impact. After Atlanta nailed last year’s summer window, it’s easy to have high expectations for all their newest signings this winter.
• Atlanta completed winger Xande Silva’s transfer from Dijon. Silva, as Matt Doyle likes to say, has Best XI potential.
• Atlanta signed goalkeeper Josh Cohen. Cohen will compete for the starting goalkeeper position and, if he puts in the kind of performance that won him the Israeli Premier League’s player of the season in 2020-21, he’ll likely win the job.
• Atlanta signed Dax McCarty in free agency. It’s Dax McCarty, y’all know at this point.
• Atlanta signed center back Stian Gregersen. The 28-year-old signed through the 2027 MLS season with an option for 2028 and is set to replace Miles Robinson. They also added from LA Galaxy and D.C United center back Derrick Williams as a depth piece.
• Atlanta signed Slisz through the 2028 MLS season.
The Five Stripes have signed multiple key pieces, added effective depth and locked down players who could be critical pieces of their spine to long-term deals. These aren’t just moves for 2024. Atlanta are establishing a core. If these players fit in MLS, this team is scary. They already had a dynamic attack. But now they’ve addressed their most prevalent need by fixing a central midfield group that’s been, no joke, one of the single worst, if not the worst, in the league since Darlington Nagbe left.
Anyway, let’s not get too caught in the past here. It’s hard to be anything but very optimistic about the near future for Atlanta. With no Concacaf Champions Cup weighing them down this year, a full preseason to integrate their newest signings and high-level talent across the board, we could be looking at a team ready to compete for the Supporters’ Shield.
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