Atlanta United FC Open Minded about the Expansion Draft
by Derek Nicholls
The front office of Atlanta United FC is busy at work preparing for the 2016 Expansion Draft to be held at 2:00PM on Tuesday, December 13, 2016. The rules of the draft allow both Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC to select five players each from the existing 20 Major League Soccer teams, as part of the league expansion.
During the pre-Expansion Draft Press Conference with Atlanta United FC, management expressed that they are going into the expansion draft with an open mind. Paul McDonough, Director of Soccer Operations, said that every available mechanism will be utilized and is important to building a strong competitive football team. If a player of interest is either taken, or their team closed out by a Minnesota selection, Atlanta will utilize the Waiver Draft on December 15th. After that, the next opportunity is the Re-Entry Draft on December 16th and 22nd. Finally, the Adidas MLS Player Combine on January 7th–12th and the 2017 MLS SuperDraft on January 13th will be further opportunities to compile a team that challenges for silverware on the field.
If there is a position on the field that the club sees as a priority, they aren’t saying – keeping their strategy close to the chest. Carlos Bocanegra, Technical Director, explained that all 11 starting positions are currently open and he expects all the players that arrive to compete for a place. MLS experience is a positive, but it isn’t a requirement for selection. The club is investing to strengthen what they currently have and are looking for versatile footballers.
Atlanta enters the Expansion Draft on the heels of a busy December 11th with the MLS’s half-day trade window. Atlanta picked up four new signings: Romario Williams, forward from Montreal Impact; Harrison Heath, midfielder from Orlando City SC; Kevin Kratz, midfielder from Philadelphia Union and Michael Parkhurst, defender from Columbus Crew SC. In addition they picked up General & Targeted Allocation Money from New York City FC in the trade for goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
