Thiago Almada set to join Atlanta United in MLS

By
Roy Nemer
-
25

Thiago Almada will reportedly join Atlanta United in the MLS.

Regarded as not only one of the best attacking young talents but one of the best talents in Argentina, the 20 year old is set to be leaving Velez and joining Atlanta United. Per a tweet by César Luis Merlo, there’s a verbal agreement for him to join the 2018 MLS Cup champions.

Part of the Argentina Olympic team, Almada would be the sixth Argentine player at the club. He would play alongside Olympic team mate Esequiel Barco. The other four Argentine players are Franco Ibarra, Marcelino Moreno, Alan Franco and Santiago Sosa.

Per reports, the transfer fee would be in the region of $15 million for him, on a four year contract.

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25 Comments

  2. I struggle to believe that our youngsters will get the development they need in the US to make it to top flight football.
    I won’t doubt the training facilities in the US are probably up there with the best, but top level coaching methods are all in Europe. Surely it makes sense tonply your trade in Europe than the States?

    • In time most top coaches in south America and some European will coach in MLS. Not only because the training facilities, and pitches, but more importantly the on time paychecks.

  3. Argentina 1st team
    Emi Martinez
    Mollina. Romero. Otamendi. Acuna
    De Paul. Paredes. Lo celso
    Messi. Dybla. E.Buendai

    Argentina 2nd team
    Musso
    Montiel Pezella Foyth Tagliafico Lamela G.Rodriguez. Papu Gomez
    Di Maria. Aguero. A. Correa

    Argentina has very good team and can be contender for World Cup 2022.For me this team looks scary.Underrated ballers are there in this Argentina team. Just mentality in players is needed otherwise talent is already there.

  4. A single win against Japan will be enough for argentine basketball team to reach QF, probably team USA will win with big margin against Czech Republic. Even Japan match wont be easy for us, they play much worse than in WC.

  7. Luca Romero 1.65 cm
    Sarmiento 1.67 cm
    Zebalos 1.69 cm
    Thiago Almada 1.71 cm
    De la vega 1.72 cm
    Barco 1.67 cm
    Alan velasco 1.67 cm
    Urzi 1.67

    I don’t understand, is the sperm of Argentine men getting sicker and weaker day by day? In order to improve in modern football, the height along with the talent of the players is very important specially when it comes to Europe. Not everyone is born with the talent like Messi or Kante.

    You can be Lucas Romero, You Can be Bustos, You can be Ascacibar, You can be Leonel Miranda only if you have average talent and skill, but you can be Guido Rodriguez if you have average Talent, average skill, and height with him.

    • The average height in South America is 171, so some of those you mentioned are either average or just below.
      Also, height has very little to do with ability, unless you’re talking about CF, CB or GK positions.
      Some of S.A’s most talented players (Maradona, Lio, Destefano, Pele, Zico, Dani Alvez, Aimar, kun, Mascherano, Passarella) ranged between 5’4 and 5’8.
      What is more important than innate ability is mental strength, hard work and adaptation. You mentioned Kante but he wasn’t a “talent” when he started out, not even close! The guy worked his butt off to get to where he is and if any player is to succeed, it will be their hard work and mentality that gets them there and not their height.

    • So many things wrong with this comment.
      If height was the only requirement you could just take the argentine basketball team with you whose team height is at average with rest of basketball teams in the world.

      all the 8 players mentioned are just mere hypes right now – or prospects to put it more kindly with massive areas of improvement remaining for each one. Maybe one or two will be in the NT by 2024. It cannot be said that a single one of them is a certainty for the future of the team. maybe, maybe with the slight exception of DLV none of them are even that impactful in their home teams.

      It’s not as if Scaloni’s senior management team is unaware of the importance of mixing physical presence with skill. Of all the young outfield players in his core – de paul, lo celso, paredes, guido, palacios, dominquez, gonzales all measure in line with averages worldwide.

      In the middle of the pitch which is the most important area for controlling the game, international teams carry similar heights on average as us above- kalvin phillips, declan rice, mason mount for england, jorginho, barella, veratti, locatelli for italy – two of the important teams in the euro finals. Even in our continent – casemiro, fred, paqueta, arthur for brazil similar height average as our core etc.

    • Almost all players u mention bar De le Vega are of Native Indian origin and they are generally shorter than European origin players. The same applies to Maradona, Aguero, Ortega, Ghallardo. Nothing strange here.

    • > I don’t understand, is the sperm of Argentine men getting sicker and weaker day by day?

      Damn bro, i didn’t realize people from Nordic countries have the strongest sperm. Maybe you’re onto a great business idea. Go get sperm from all those strong burly nordic men and sell $200 a pop in Argentina. I think you just solved the weakness crisis that’s plaguing Argentine futbol.

  8. Part of the reason why I have a lot of concern over this move is because there is no reference point for a player that has completely lit up the MLS and shown world class potential to get a great move to Europe after joining from South America. The only players that light up the league are players heading into retirement that have played in top leagues, won the UCL, and were world beaters at some point, because of their experience and since they have developed. But when a young talent joins the mls from SA they are taking a step back, and they are taking a step back during a crucial part of their development. They then stagnate and sink back. For those that have watched Barco at Atlanta how much has he improved since joining (physically, technically, in terms of output)? For me it crushes your development and when you join the mls I feel like it is a point of no return. The best case scenario is that after joining the mls a European club rescues them, but most European clubs go after players that are lighting up the leagues, showing a rate of improvement, and making a name for themselves. Going to the mls does the exact opposite. It makes them unattractive options to buy and before you know it they will buy another Brazilian league player. Look at the talisman for SA-MLS-Europe careers, he is Miguel Almiron. He went from Lanus to Atlanta to (drumroll)… Newcastle. And the last time most of us saw him he got pocketed by Molina who is known for not being able to pocket players. So the future of our players that go to the mls is not exactly looking bright. Of course I hope Almada and others can break the trend, as Almada is obviously more talented than Almiron, but when I look at how the development of players that go to the mls looks like there is no indication so far that that will happen.

  9. Fabrizio Romano live on twitch tonight and this is what he said:

    Romano just said this on twitch:

    -Nothing going on with Barca (however Messi really wants him at the club)
    -Tottenham still working on the deal
    -Atalanta want 55m euros and we are prepared to only pay 45m euros
    -Romero is still the main target but keep an eye out on Tomiyasu and Milenkovic

    So my guess is correct! Messi really likes Romero and does recommend Romero to Barca. When Barca lost 2-8, Messi knew that the team defense needs help. Then he was with Romero for more than 40 days in matches and training. He knows who Romero is.

    Too bad the timing is bad, had it been another season when Barca had no money problem, Romero would have easily been Barca player right now. I mean come on, which player in the universe doesn’t wanna come to Barca when promised a first team player.

    Barca really respects Messi. Whatever he says, they would listen. That’s why there is a rumor of “Romero to Barca”. Messi starts it. Maybe at least Barca tries something to please Messi.

    Those Copa America team players have their whatsapp group for sure (just like the WC 2014 team had a whatsapp group). Maybe Messi tells Romero to not sign with Hotspur yet? Who knows?

    Anyway in less than 3 weeks the league seasons will start. There are still a lot of uncertainties as of now. The only Copa America players I know who have been back with their teams are Nico Otamendi and Tagliafico. Everyone else still sunbathing somewhere.

    • I knew Messi was the main factor behind fcb been link to cuti Romero. Copa players who bk thier clubs not only otamendi and tagliafico but also likes lich martinez and Rodrigo de Paul and Nicole dominguez back to thier respective Clubs

    • I continue to pray that this doesn’t happen. Spurs is a dead end club, especially for Argentine players. Putting Ardiles and Villa aside because that was a very different era, look at Lamela, Foyth and now (sadly) Celso. Coco was one of the most talented, sought after players until he came to s**tspurs, he warmed the bench initially for no good reason and then, started suffering endless injuries, when he hadn’t before at Roma or River. It was very lucky that Poch was able to get some good games out of him otherwise he would’ve ended up a total failure.
      Foyth was never given a proper chance outside of Poch and then the second he leaves that s**t club, he wins Europa league and will now play CL, while the club that rejected him won’t play either.
      Celso, was one of la liga’s brightest players who never had any injury issues when playing for Rosario, PSG or Betis but now he can’t seem to stop getting injuried.
      Conclusion: Spurs is a dead end club that wins nothing and offers nothing to Argentine players apart from endless injuries. Please god don’t let Romero go there because you can kiss this world class player goodbye.

      • For me I am neutral on Romero’s next destination. Wherever he goes, his club will be my favorite club. I do believe he has yet to reach his ceiling yet. I am sure he will get better and better. I don’t believe moving to Totenham will ruin his career. If Ruben Dias and Van Dijk can succeed there in EPL, I see no reason why not Romero.

        However, although it is very likely Totentham Hotspur, but it is not a sure thing yet.

        I visit the Hotspur forum everyday now and all those fans fear that the deal might collapse. They really want Romero more than anyone, but they remember what happened 1-4 years ago. These world class players: Ruben Dias (City), Bruno Fernandez (MU), Paulo Dybala (Juventus) and Skriniar (Inter) at one point were close to Totenham but all those 4 deals collapsed in the end due to Levy, the Hotspur owner being stubborn.

        I read that Levy is the type of person that would keep 1 penny instead of saying “keep the change”.

        Fabrizio Romano confirmed it by saying that Totentham Hotspur is the most difficult club to deal with (when it comes to negotiation). So if those wondering why it is not done deal yet as of now? The answer is the Hotspur side, Levy has yet to increase their offer.

        Atalanta is being simple: You pay the price, you will get the player.

        • Yeah Levi is the stereotypical Jewish business man and while no one can blame him for being a discerning negotiator, it is easy to tell why Spurs have won absolutely NOTHING during his tenure while the likes of Chelsea with Abrahmovic have won 5 premier leagues and 2 CLs, not to mention a europa league and a few other cups.

          I really hope Atalanta hold their ground because they have in their hands Italy’s best defender, who also happens to be only 23yrs i.e. a gold mine!

    • It was Sampaoli, who wanted him at OM, rather than OM, who are willing to pursue Coutinho.
      The fact is this deal is the best for both Velez and Almada, both making money out of it.
      I’ve followed Velez transfer for more than 2 decades and I haven’t seen a more jinxed club, with their players being completely obsolete in both Europe and with the NT. Going back to Bianchi days, and then so called great prospects Bassedas and Trotta to more recent Maxi Romero, mati Vargas, Santiago Caseres and Benjamin Garre, they have all fallen like a repeating tape recorder.
      Only Zarate was decent and didn’t look out of sorts, even I wouldn’t call him a success.
      Nico Dominguez hopefully will break that jinx, and wishing Soule at Juve becomes the real big Velez success in Europe.
      Back to Almada, the kid has been around for 3 years now, and he hasn’t stepped up to the next level. The truth is this is his level and at MLS hopefully he’ll make a name for himself along with the bucks.

      • Almada is good without doubt. Much more talented than MacAllister, the starting number 10 for us in the Olympic, but if you wonder why only MLS? The reason is Almada has yet to dominate the Argentina league.

        If you compare him to the young Aguero or young Neymar for example. The 18 year old Aguero was already a phenomenon in Independiente, already looked like the best player in the entire Argentina league by far at just 18 years of age. He scored 18 goals in 30+ games. That’s why the likes of Atletico wanted him and made him an important part of their team right away.

        The same thing with the 19 year old Neymar who was the best player and the top scorer in the Brazilian league for Santos. That’s why Barca got him right away.

        The 20 year old Almada is talented but his number and performance is not as convincing as the other 2, so the European clubs are not really interested in him. I am not saying that Almada won’t be a good player, I am saying at 20 the likes of Aguero, Messi, Di Maria, Saviola, or Riquelme were better than him.

        • Exactly my point. In 3 years he should’ve kicked on, but he didn’t because he couldn’t. He also mentally acknowledges this fact and has made a sensible move.

    • Lol tell me one argentinan player who succeed after MLS !

      Pity Gonzalez was the best player of Copa Libertadores and moved in MLS : now he is a random player.
      Cristian Pavon was in selection and a talent when he moved in MLS : now he is a random player.

      You improve your football in Europe with the high level of the main league, not in a league where Giovinco was the best player.

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