Report: Atlanta United given permission to negotiate with Newcastle midfielder Miguel Almiron
Could one of Atlanta United's prodigal sons return to the Five Stripes?
MLS insider and friend of the pod Tom Bogert has one of the hottest Atlanta United scoops in some time, linking Miguel Almiron with a return to his former club.
Specifically, Almiron has seemingly seen talks break down with Charlotte FC, the club who had discovery rights on the Paraguayan midfielder. Charlotte is moving onto another DP target in the form of Wilfried Zaha. According to Bogert, when this decision was made, Charlotte initiated contact with Atlanta United to allow them permission to speak with Almiron.
Bogert notes that the talks between Atlanta and Almiron are at a preliminary stage, but it seems plausible that something could materialize from here — potentially rapidly — given that they can speak directly now whereas they hadn’t been able to do so prior to this recent development.
If signed, Almiron would fill one of two open Designated Player spots for Atlanta, and would presumably play on the wing where the team is looking for a speedy playmaker.
Almiron is desperate to play, given he’s only featured in 398 minutes in all competitions for Newcastle this season. And there’s no club in the world where Almiron holds more value than to Atlanta United, who can leverage him to boost sales and interest as a familiar face and the driving force behind a successful version of Atlanta United that won it’s only MLS Cup in 2018.
At 30 years old, Almiron wouldn’t hold much re-sale value, but Atlanta United President Garth Lagerwey has said time-and-again that the club is wholly interested in acquiring immediate on-field value as opposed to sell-on value down the line. Atlanta was already handsomely rewarded to the tune of tens of millions in profit on players sold in 2024 and have proclaimed an intention to invest those earnings back into the roster.
I understand the emotional attachment but don’t think it is the right move. Hope he proves me wrong.
~25M for selling him the first time, less ~10M to buy him back, plus ~2.5M for our sell-on clause from the original sale... even if we don't make a penny in the future, we'd still have netted ~17.5M over his career. I think the math maths just fine. What's a second MLS cup worth, anyway?
Given the sell-on clause, his value for fan enthusiasm, as well as being pretty much exactly the style player we need, he's a better deal for AU than any other club I can think of.