The Daily Dirt, July 16: Kenwyne Jones to the A

Atlanta United dropped some news on us yesterday to close out a Friday. Kenwyne Jones, captain of Trinidad & Tobago’s national team, signed his contract with Atlanta United. We’ve covered this since the beginning of the week when the Washington Post’s Steven Goff broke the news on Jones’ imminent signing.

Then Kenwyne won the hearts of Atlanta with this:

We’ll have more on Jones’ signing later today with our Digging Deeper feature. Also, as soon as his loan destination becomes official, we will let you know. He is on a preliminary CONCACAF Champions League roster with Central FC, but he is not officially with that club yet. CNC3 in Trinidad and Tobago reported that Jones will be arriving in Atlanta “within days.”

#VillalbaWatch is still in effect for the metro Atlanta area. Nothing new to report there at the moment.

Atlanta United will be represented in tonight’s friendly at Atlanta Silverbacks Park between the Nigerian Olympic team and the Charleston Battery. Andrew Carleton officially joined Alex Tambakis on the Battery’s roster earlier in the week. Jeffrey Otoo will also play for the Battery tonight. There are reports that other Atlanta United academy players could participate with Charleston tonight as well.

Domestic

A Steven Gerrard rebound is all LA needs as the Galaxy win 1-0 over Houston (LAG Confidential)

Boca Juniors star Nicolas Lodeiro to join Seattle next week? (Sounder at Heart)

Vancouver signs 15 year old Alphonso Davies to multi-year Homegrown Player contract (Eighty Six Forever)

Below helps explain why Atlanta’s training facility is such an important investment:

Western New York Flash receive substantial fine for narrow Frontier Field debacle (The Equalizer)

Carolina Railhawks interested in a NWSL franchise (The Equalizer)

Week 13 Preview for the NWSL (SB Nation)

International

Xolos kicks off the new LigaMX season with a 2-0 win over Morelia, we’ll see if Tito Villalba joins them soon:

Pogba hints at a return to Manchester United? (SB Nation)

Leicester prepare to lose N’Golo Kante to Chelsea (Fosse Posse)

Local

Arodys Vizcaino injured in Braves’ loss to Colorado (Talking Chop)

A look at the Winners and Losers from the Hawks’ Summer League performance (Peachtree Hoops)

Jake Matthews expected to make a leap for the Falcons this year (The Falcoholic)

The 2nd Take podcast discusses the upcoming Georgia Football season (Dawg Sports)

Georgia Tech AD Mike Bobinski announced a new strategic plan for the Athletic Department (From the Rumble Seat)