The long-rumored transfer of Miguel Almiron to Newcastle United appears to finally be reaching the finish line.
Atlanta United and Newcastle have reached an agreement on a transfer for the Paraguayan playmaker, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Tuesday. Details have yet to emerge, but Atlanta United had made it clear it would not let Almiron go cheaply, with president Darren Eales being quoted as saying Atlanta United believed Almiron was worth $30 million.
Almiron has reportedly flown to Newcastle to undergo his medical ahead of a transfer to the Magpies, who are in desperate need of his playmaking qualities. Rafa Benitez’s side is currently in 17th place, just two points clear of the drop zone in the English Premier League.
An Almiron departure seemed inevitable after Atlanta United completed the signing of Argentine star Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez, leaving the reigning MLS Cup champions with four designated players on the books.
An MLS Best XI selection, Almiron joined Atlanta United in its inaugural 2017 campaign and quickly established himself as one of the league’s best players. He produced 21 goals and 28 assists over the course of two seasons, helping Atlanta United win the 2018 MLS Cup final.
New Atlanta United manager Frank De Boer will have the difficult task of trying to replace Almiron. Pity Martinez is expected to pick up some of the slack, but isn’t quite the same kind of player as Almiron. Martinez is more a natural left winger, though he is capable of slotting into a traditional attacking midfielder role.
Almiron’s departure will mean that Ezequiel Barco will be able to stay along with Josef Martinez as Atlanta United’s three designated players, with Barco looking to have a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2018 campaign.
Good for him, I hope he does well in a very unforgiving Premier League, playing for a team fighting for survival…
This is/was expected BUT man I wish MLS didn’t have the draconian Senior Roster Rules/salary budget stuff still in effect. Take the training wheel off and let teams with ambition keep driving for success. Would have been great to have him in the XI for CCL with Barco/Tito coming off the bench. Now I guess it will be Barco/Pereirra/Carleton providing the off the bench spark.
Oh well. Vamos Almiron! Vamos Atlanta! #UniteAndConquer
I’ll say it again: MLS teams need to be able to buy and sell DP slots for cold hard cash that is then applicable to their own caps. Teams that want to spend should be allowed to do so; those that can’t but are fundamentally solid – like, say, Sporting KC – could then sell off their DP slots while raising their overall cap (probably by several million dollars), which would allow them to have a roster full of $500-$600K-level-players that are paid down below DP status by TAM. It’d do wonders for depth. Would force teams to choose, in some ways, between stars or depth, and the big spenders like Atlanta, LA, and Seattle would effectively subsidize the small-market squads.
Would put some exciting star-studded squads in the big markets, and deeper, more quality teams in the smaller ones. And guys like Almiron could stay on until they get their actual valuation from Euro squads that KNOW an MLS squad with 4 DP’s must sell because of league rules.
There are American leagues that don’t have those rules. The Sounders, the Timbers, the Whitecaps all left for a reason. The Silverbacks didn’t make it for a reason.
The reason is if your team can never win, you draw around 126k for 10 games ( Bornemouth ) even in the Premier league.
You and I have both probably been to enough Silverback games to realize that….and we were one of the “haves”
Maybe you made the trip in 2007 to see the finals? ( sorry couldn’t resist )
Sounders !!!
Still think the selling of DP slots would balance things out, because it effectively, as I said, forces the big dogs to subsidize the small-market teams if they wanna load up on DP’s. The smaller-market teams wouldn’t have the names, but they’d have a lot more money to spend on players 1-24.
So you’d see the Atlantas, Seattles, and LA’s running much thinner rosters that have a ton of name recognition but drop off pretty significantly during International breaks and injuries, and smaller-market teams with much deeper rosters that have 20 good-to-decent players and can cover for those things. I think it balances out, and ends up raising the game across the board.
As an Atlanta United fan I am very sorry to see him go. But, it is a business and he will do well at Newcastle. ATL will need Barco to step up and contribute heavily next season.
Too bad, it was a joy watching him play. MLS just isn’t there money-wise, so now he can make a bad Newcastle team mediocre ( if he is a good guy, I hope he is able to move on quickly )
Some day. Soon.
I think it’s less about the money and more about playing in Europe, especially the Premier League.
You are misunderstanding what I am saying.
I am saying it is shame that MLS can’t afford to keep him and Atlanta’s new three signings.
At that point and it will come soon, he doesn’t go to Newcastle to pursue that 10th place finish!
Some day soon.