Tom Bogert reports Atlanta United is trading Efraín Morales

GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert has reported that Atlanta United is set to deal homegrown center back Efraín Morales to CF Montréal.

The move comes directly after Morales left Atlanta’s 3-2 loss to Charlotte FC at halftime. After a solid first-half performance, Atlanta’s back line collapsed in the second half. Head coach Ronny Deila said post-match that Morales told him he “couldn’t sprint anymore.”

It’s unclear what kind of return Atlanta United will get for Morales. Although the deal is oddly similar to Atlanta’s 2022 trade with Montréal that sent homegrown center back George Campbell away for $600k in GAM. You can likely expect a similar exchange here.

Montréal sold Campbell to West Bromwich Albion two days ago. Campbell became a consistent starter for the club after leaving Atlanta.

Morales, 21, had suddenly turned into one of the lone bright spots in a bleak season for Atlanta United. As homegrown with no budget charge, it seemed like the Five Stripes might have stumbled into some true value on the field. Instead, a brief stint in the shop window led to Atlanta snatching up whatever allocation money CF Montréal have offered for a player in the last guaranteed year of his contract. However, it should be noted that Morales had an option year remaining on his deal.

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** THIS IS THE PERSONAL OPINION LINE, THE PERSONAL OPINIONS START HERE **

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This, like the Xande Silva trade, is a frustrating move in the short term. Perhaps, it will be in the long term too, but for now, it’s solely disappointing because we do not know the overall vision for Atlanta United’s upcoming windows. It’s a sad puzzle piece in what could be a warm and fuzzy finished product.

On the surface, this feels like Atlanta has shipped off a talented homegrown coming into his own. The club feels they can do better. To be frank, they don’t have anyone convinced of that right now. And it’s tough to reckon with the thought that they might have just shipped out the kind of high-value, budget-chargeless player that you need to fill out your roster in MLS.

Over the last five games, Morales has looked like a player morphing into a bonafide contributor. In the first half against Charlotte, he looked like one of the best and most critical players on the field. (I have receipts there.) And it maybe shouldn’t have been a total surprise that the team imploded with his late substitution. If Atlanta feels they can do better than a potential starting caliber player who doesn’t count against the cap…well, I guess all we can say is, “They better.”

And maybe they will! We are talking about a player with eight career starts. He’s been in the building for a while. Presumably, they know what they have beyond a few decent performances on a bad team. I’m absolutely willing to concede that. But there have been so many moves over the past few years that haven’t created more than the value they’ve traded away. It’s fair to say there’s not much faith they’re going to get things right.

But this is a starter’s pistol of a move. The house cleaning has begun. Dominos are finally falling etc. etc. We’ll find out soon enough what the total return is and what moves this decision facilitates. Hang on, folks.