Atlanta United are officially terrifying. After an impressive first season in Major League Soccer, Tata Martino's team has gotten even better with Wednesday's addition of former Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe.
The USA international is one of the best creative midfielders in MLS, and will make an Atlanta United attack that already features the likes of Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron even more vicious.
U.S. & The A.
The Vancouver Whitecaps pulled off what might be one of the biggest moves of the MLS offseason on Thursday, signing Venezuela international Anthony Blondell. The striker led the Primera Division in Venezuela with 23 goals in 2017, leading Monagas SC to the Torneo Apertura title.
Anthony Blondell (pronounced blun-dell) could be a coup for the Whitecaps. At 23 years old, he’s an emerging star, having made his international debut earlier this month. His 2017 haul of 23 goals came in 33 starts and 37 appearances and many of them were impressive strikes.
Monday marked Contract Deadline Day in Major League Soccer, meaning that all clubs (apart from the four still participating in the MLS Cup playoffs) had to announce which player contract options they’d picked up and which players they’d effectively cut.
You could forgive Bill Hamid for electing to stay with DC United for the rest of his playing career — he’s got a pretty good thing going in the nation’s capital. Having risen through the ranks of the club’s youth system, Hamid established himself as the team’s No. 1 over the course of eight stellar seasons, including a 2014 campaign that saw him named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
You know how Neymar left Barcelona for PSG? Well, apparently that move was in the works for a long time. As far back as Messi's wedding, if Xavi Hernandez is to be believed.
Here's what Xavi told the BBC World Service:
Claudio Pizarro doesn’t have amazing speed. He doesn’t dominate with his strength. He doesn’t even really look like much of a striker (maybe a defender). But all he does is score goals year after year. Now the soon-to-be 39-year-old is returning to the Bundesliga. Claudio Pizarro signed with FC Cologne on a one-year contract on Friday.
Apparently, even eSports talents can get sent out on loan. Ajax, for decades a premier producer of precocious players, is also one of the frontrunners in the eSports world. On Thursday they signed new player Lev Vinken to their squad — and immediately sent him out on loan to league rival Sparta Rotterdam.
Chelsea wantaway striker Diego Costa appears to have finally wrangled the move he has been angling for, back to Atletico Madrid and their shiny new stadium.
The statement on Atletico Madrid's website:
According to an ESPN FC source, 20-year-old Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown will sign a four-and-a-half year contract with Manchester City in January after the expiration of his contract in MLS.
Well, the thing that everyone expected to happen happened. PSG have officially signed Monaco phenom Kylian Mbappe on loan for this season with a mandatory purchase clause for $214.26 million next summer, which they will almost certainly do.