Update, March 29: Atlanta United's pursuit of Alan Franco appears to have ended with the player's arrival to the club after all, head coach Gabriel Heinze told reporters on a video call last week.
“The center back is already signed,” Heinze said in quotes relayed via Dirty South Soccer. “It’s Alan Franco. He already signed like a week ago."
An official announcement of the transfer has yet to be made as of Monday, but that quote certainly seems to indicate the Five Stripes' lengthy offseason pursuit of reinforcements in central defense has concluded. The 24-year-old has played his entire professional career to this point with Independiente in his native Argentina.
Update, March 19: Atlanta United's pursuit of Independiente center back Alan Franco is "unlikely to continue" according to a Friday report from Felipe Cardenas of The Athletic. Cardenas adds that the club does not want to wait until the summer to make an addition in central defense, so it's possible an addition could be still be in store for the Five Stripes in the near future.
TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report
Atlanta United are once again in pursuit of help in central defense, this time in the form of Independiente's Alan Franco, according to a report from TyC Sports.
The Argentine outlet reported Atlanta's interest in the player on Sunday, with TyC's Gaston Edul following up with a report that the Five Stripes had made a formal offer for the 24-year-old defender. However, the original report does say that manager Julio César Falcioni does not want to part ways with Franco.
Franco is the latest center back linked with Atlanta this offseason, following the club's reported pursuits of Hector David Martinez and Lautaro Giannetti that didn't end with either player joining the club.
Franco has been a regular at Independiente since 2017, racking up 77 appearances. He also has one career senior cap for Argentina's national team, which he picked up in 2018.
Atlanta are in the midst of a busy offseason as they look to retool coming off last year's disappointing campaign that saw them miss the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs. Midfielders Santiago Sosa and Franco Ibarra are among the high-profile new acquisitions to already join the club and first-year head coach Gabriel Heinze, but it certainly seems like the Five Stripes are keen on making another move for defensive reinforcements.
2021 Atlanta United Roster as of March 12, 2021:
HEAD COACH: Gabriel Heinze
FORWARDS (5):
- Conway, Jackson
- Lopez, Erik
- Lopez, Lisandro
- Martinez, Josef
- Torres, Erick
MIDFIELDERS (11):
- Adams, Mo
- Barco, Ezequiel
- Chol, Machop
- Damm, Jurgen
- Hyndman, Emerson
- Ibarra, Franco
- Moreno, Marcelino
- Mulraney, Jake
- Remedi, Eric
- Rossetto, Matheus
- Sosa, Santiago
- Wolff, Tyler
DEFENDERS (9):
- Ambrose, Mikey
- Bello, George
- Campbell, George
- De John, Alex
- Hernandez, Ronald
- Lennon, Brooks
- Morales, Efrain
- Robinson, Miles
- Walkes, Anton
GOALKEEPERS (3):
- Guzan, Brad
- Kann, Alec
- Lundgaard, Ben
