Atlanta United are working to reach an agreement with Newcastle United to sign Miguel Almiron.
The MLS side have made a bid for their ex-player worth in the region of £11million, which is being considered by Newcastle.
Talks are at an advanced stage and a deal is on course to be concluded in the coming days.
Almiron joined Newcastle from Atlanta for around £20m in January 2019 and the winger has scored 30 goals in 221 appearances. His contract expires in June 2026 and a sale would help Newcastle avoid a repeat of the problems they faced last year to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules.
Almiron struggled initially on Tyneside, scoring only 10 goals in his first 117 Premier League games but had an excellent 2022-23 campaign that saw him score 11 times in the league and help Newcastle to a fourth place finish.
The 30-year-old has been capped 64 times by the Paraguay national team.
Almiron’s minutes have been reduced this season in club competition, playing 12 games and making only four starts.
He made 70 appearances for Atlanta over two seasons and scored 22 goals, and was part of the side that lifted the MLS Cup in 2018.
Atlanta are looking to improve after a 2024 campaign that saw the side reach the Eastern conference semi-finals of the MLS cup, where they were defeated by Orlando City.
What about Charlotte FC owning Almiron’s discovery rights?
One aspect of this negotiation that is unique to MLS is discovery rights. Every team in the league formulates a list of five players whose rights they own in the event of a future negotiation. The players on the discovery list must play outside of MLS. Although it’s an outdated rule, the purpose was to prevent multiple MLS teams from negotiating with the same player, thus driving up the price for a sale. Player contracts in MLS are owned and approved by the league.
So, even though Almiron is a former Atlanta United player, because he was sold at a profit, ATL did not keep his MLS rights. Charlotte then claimed those rights and Atlanta had to seek their permission to pursue a deal with Newcastle. The eventual outcome is Atlanta needing to compensate Charlotte for Almiron’s MLS rights. A minimum fee of $50,000 is required.
However, this is a bargaining tool for Charlotte. The club owned the discovery rights to Marco Reus, who signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy over the summer. The Galaxy paid Charlotte $400,000 to for Reus’ rights.
Analysis from senior soccer writer Felipe Cardenas
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
